Climate change 'threatens crops in Africa and Asia'
Crops could be seriously affected by climate change, report says
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Friday, 01, Feb 2008 05:41
Climate change is likely to seriously affect crop yield in southern Africa and south Asia, scientists warned today.
Researchers from Stanford University estimated the impact of a 1C rise in the average global temperature in 12 regions where a large share of the world's malnourished populations reside.
The anticipated seasonal precipitation decline in some areas was also taken into account.
The findings, published in the journal Science, estimate that southern Africa could lose more than 30 per cent of its main crop, maize, in the next two decades.
Study co-author Marshall Burke said this could have "possibly devastating implications for hunger in the region".
Potential losses of ten per cent of many of south Asia's regional staples, including millet, maize and rice, were also predicted.
"For poor farmers on the margin of survival, these losses could really be crushing," Mr Burke added.
Commenting on the findings, lead author David Lobell said: "The majority of the world's one billion poor depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.
"Unfortunately, agriculture is also the human enterprise most vulnerable to changes in climate.
"Understanding where these climate threats will be greatest, for what crops and on what time scales, will be central to our efforts at fighting hunger and poverty over the coming decades."