Global Warming Effects on Agriculture

As soon as you accept the general premise that global warming exists (which some don’t), the talk immediately turns to what the ultimate impact of it will be on humanity. After all, both directly and indirectly, the increased temperatures and variations in the climate have to alter life somehow.

How much will they change life as people know it? That depends on how quickly these changes take place.

According to many researchers, if the buildup of greenhouse-gas emissions isn’t slowed down significantly in the near future, odds are (over 90 percent) that the average growing-season temperatures will be higher than ever previously recorded in history. Obviously, the areas which will experience the highest growth will be in the tropics and subtropics. These areas include Africa, a lot of India, China and South America -- and of course, southern United States.

As a result of increasing temperatures, particular plants like rice, wheat and corn will grow faster. However, on the flip side, there will be a very noticeable reduction in plant fertility and grain production that follows. Further, with the average growing-season temperatures estimated to rise more than six degrees Fahrenheit in a number of places, crop yields may in turn drop 20 to 40 percent. Increased evaporation and loss of soil moisture will only serve to aggravate these effects.

In the United States, the increased temperatures coming from the greenhouse-gas emissions will likely increase the crop yields through the middle of the century. Around the world, the effect of global warming will likely be felt the most dramatically by subsistence farmers.

And while people not want to talk about the harmful ramifications of global warming on agriculture at this point, that doesn’t take away from the seriousness of the situation. Considering that it can take over two decades to breed a new crop strain, long-term strategic planning is key. Development and continual research on how to counter-act the negatives of global warming have to become a priority.

The problem with global warming, of course, is the delayed reaction that everyone appears to have towards it. Because it’s easier to address problems that are occurring in the now, nobody really wants to deal with something that may not actually become an issue until five decades in the future. The obvious quandary, though, is that the problems caused by global warming need to be fixed over a long period of time.

Will they actually get fixed? That remains to be seen.