Climate change poses threat to food supply, scientists say

Global warming, still not accepted as reality by the U.S. government, seems to affect crops moreso than previously believed. In light of Monsanto’s genetically modified crops, which work to eliminate diversity and are effectively changing the agricultural landscape, the results of global warming on our own food supplies could be catastrophic.

Worldwide production of essential crops such as wheat, rice, maize and soya beans is likely to be hit much harder by global warming than previously predicted, an international conference in London has heard.

The benefits of higher levels of the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, will in fact be outweighed by the downsides of climate change, a Royal Society discussion meeting was told yesterday. It had been thought that the gas might act as a fertiliser to increase plant growth. Rising atmospheric temperatures, longer droughts and side-effects of both, such as higher levels of ground-level ozone gas, are likely to bring about a substantial reduction in crop yields in the coming decades, large-scale experiments have shown.

The two-day meeting, entitled Food Crops in a Changing Climate, is focusing largely on tropical countries where most of the world’s food is grown, and where people are most vulnerable to climate change.

It is bringing together leading scientists in the fields of meteorology, climate science and agriculture to report on the latest research, including growing crops in experimental conditions in the open air that simulate advanced global warming. Previously, such experiments had taken place in closed chambers, and these had suggested that the “fertilisation” effect of…

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I have lived many lives in many countries. an alchemist on a constant quest for truth. my destiny is as of yet unclear, but i am still immature. i only want to learn as much as i can before i die. minimalism, naturalism and a few other isms define me ...