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Climate Change May Trigger Crop Failures

Major food shortages predicted for Africa, Asia by 2030

By Robin Frost,  Newser User

Posted Feb 3, 2008 9:21 AM CST
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(Newser) – Climate change could cause severe food shortages in South Asia and southern Africa, two of the poorest regions in the world, by 2030, National Geographic reports. "We were surprised by how much, and how soon, these regions could suffer if we don't adapt," said one of the study's authors. Decreased yields could pump up costs in the global food market as well.

As levels of greenhouse gases heat up the planet, droughts and shifting rainfall patterns could cause a 30% drop in corn yields in southern Africa; in South Asia, output of almost every major crop will by cut by 5% to 10%. The authors suggest cultivating new crops in those hot spots and increasing spending on drought-resistant produce.

Farmers ride bullock carts loaded with sugar cane into the Simbhaoli Integrated Sugar Complex which houses the ethanol plant at Simbhaoli, Uttar Pradesh, India. (AP Photo/Mustafa Quraishi, File)
Farmers ride bullock carts loaded with sugar cane into the Simbhaoli Integrated Sugar Complex which houses the ethanol plant at Simbhaoli, Uttar Pradesh, India. (AP Photo/Mustafa Quraishi, File)   (Associated Press)
Hydraulic cranes lift sugarcane from trucks for processing at the ethanol plant at the Simbhaoli Integrated Sugar Complex in Simbhaoli, Uttar Pradesh, India. A study predicts that almost all major South Asian crops will fall off by about 5 to 10 percent in the next 20 years. (AP Photo/Mustafa Quraishi,...
Hydraulic cranes lift sugarcane from trucks for processing at the ethanol plant at the Simbhaoli Integrated Sugar Complex in Simbhaoli, Uttar Pradesh, India. A study predicts that almost all major South...   (Associated Press)
A woman works in a field in Ngiresi near the Tanzanian town of Arusha in Africa. In southern Africa, a study predicted a 30 percent drop in corn yields by 2030. (Associated Press)
A woman works in a field in Ngiresi near the Tanzanian town of Arusha in Africa. In southern Africa, a study predicted a 30 percent drop in corn yields by 2030. (Associated Press)   (Associated Press)
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World • Green

 
climate change • greenhouse gases • farming • hunger • Southern Africa • crops • South Asia • World hunger • global food market

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