20090706 Oxfam to G8: Climate change will spread hunger(1)

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn AMSTERDAM: Chronic hunger may be "the defining human tragedy of this century," as climate change causes growing seasons to shift, crops to fail, and storms and droughts to ravage fields, an advocacy group said. Oxfam International released a report Monday as leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) wealthiest nations prepare to meet in Italy this week, with an agenda to include both food security and climate change. Rich countries in temperate climate zones, such as northern Europe and parts of the United States, will benefit from warmer weather and more rainfall, but far more people in hotter, poorer countries will face more erratic and expensive food supplies, said the British-based nonprofit group. Farmers have begun changing their crops in the tropics, where a 1 degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit) temperature shift can make traditional crops unsustainable. Unpredictable rainfall makes their choices of new crops a gamble, the report said.