Monday, July 6, 2009

20090706 Oxfam to G8: Climate change will spread hunger(2)

Among the worst hit are nations that grow rice, the world's most common food.
Yields are predicted to drop an average 10 percent for every 1 degree C rise in
temperature in countries like the Philippines, where production could fall 50-70
percent as early as 2020
At the same time, China will grow more rice as the area of warm temperatures
spreads
Corn is another staple that will be widely affected by climate change since it
is particularly vulnerable to water stress
UN estimates suggest as much as $200 billion a year may be needed by 2030 for
developing water resources in increasingly arid regions, shifting agriculture to
more suitable crops, building sea walls to protect coastal cities from rising
sea levels and helping fishermen whose stocks would be affected by acidification
of the ocean
The world's agricultural potential is less than 60 percent exploited: there is
still enough land to feed everyone
Modern agricultural methods, irrigation and fertilizers could dramatically lift
yields
 blog it

No comments:

Post a Comment