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

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn 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