Researching effect of climate change on agriculture
- Investigating agricultural implications of climatic variations
Context
In a warmer world there would be higher agricultural production in the high latitudes of the northern and southern hemispheres but reduced production in the tropics and sub-tropics where there is already food deficiency.
If climate changes substantially during the next half century, meeting the demands from rising population may be more difficult. On a globe with scarce resources, sustaining the required rate of growth of food production will become harder. To some degree, expanding knowledge and technology for improving agricultural production, resource husbandry, and environmental quality can expand the capacity for meeting the future demands on the globe's scarce resources. However, the question must still be asked whether for a warmer planet with more people, more trade, and more carbon dioxide in the air, farming and forestry can prepare within a few decades to sustain more production while emiting less and absorbing more greenhouse gases?