Published in ERW, 22 Jul 2015
Crop yields have a complex “nonlinear” relationship with the climate, particularly where extremes of temperature and rainfall are concerned. That’s the conclusion of researchers in the US, who stress the importance of irrigation as a way of adapting to a warming planet.
A huge amount of climate research has explored how global warming will affect the crop harvest. The general outlook is that global agricultural production will decline; in Africa and South Asia, for instance, studies have predicted that the yield of eight major crops will fall significantly by mid-century. Combine that with rising populations, and some scientists have predicted that in the future much more land will need to be devoted to farming. […]
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