http://www.climate.org/2002/topics/agricul/index.shtml - Accessed 26 August
2008
1
Climate Change and Food Security
Prepared by Lauren Sacks and Cynthia Rosenzweig
Introduction
Over the past fifty years, human ingenuity has led to technological advances in
agriculture that have dramatically increased crop yields. However, despite these
improvements, agriculture is still highly dependent on climate since solar radiation,
temperature, and precipitation are the main drivers of crop growth. Since the industrial
revolution, humans have been changing the global climate by emitting high amounts of
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, potentially resulting in higher global
temperatures, changed hydrological regimes, and increased climatic variability.
Climate change over the next century may have significant effects on food supply, i.e.,
how much food is produced, as well as food security, i.e. how much food is available to
people. How much, where, and when food supply and security will be affected by
climate change are questions many scientists and policy-makers are examining.
Global Warming and Food Security
It seems obvious that any significant change in climate on a global scale should impact
local agriculture and thereby affect the world's food supply. Considerable study has
gone into the questions of how farming might be affected in different regions, and by
how much; and whether the net result may be harmful or beneficial, and to whom.
Some of the major organizations studying the effect of climate change on agriculture
include:
· Food and Agriculture Organization
· Columbia Center for International Earth Science Information Network
(CIESIN)
· The Intergovernmental ...