drought heat slash grain crops
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Drought, heat slash grain crops

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Drought, heat slash grain crops

During the 43-year period examined in a study
Paris - AFP

Drought and heatwaves depleted grain harvests by 10 percent from 1964 to 2007, with sharper losses in the latter two decades and rich nations, reports a study released Wednesday.

The first global overview of how extreme weather disasters affect grain output comes as climate scientists project even more severe and frequent warming over the next half-century.

At the same time, other research has shown, food production will probably need to double by 2050 to feed a population of more than nine billion people.

The study "highlights the important historical effects of extreme weather disasters on agriculture," the authors note in a study published in the journal Nature.

It also "emphasises the urgency with which the global cereal production system must adapt to extremes in a changing climate."

A trio of researchers led by Corey Lesk of McGill University in Montreal crunched data from 177 countries covering nearly 3,000 heatwaves, drought and floods.

Using average yields as a benchmark, they looked at how extreme weather events affected output of 16 cereals, including wheat, maize and rice.

"Until now we did not know exactly how much global production was lost," said co-author Navin Ramankutty, also of McGill.

During the 43-year period examined, some 1.2 billion tonnes of grain were lost to heatwaves, and 1.8 billion tonnes to drought -- the equivalent of global wheat and maize output for 2013.

As expected, the impact of heatwaves was more short-lived than droughts, which sometimes extended over more than one growing season.

The losses over the period 1985 to 2007 were higher, averaging nearly 14 percent, raising the question of whether climate change is playing an greater role.

The authors pointed to other research suggesting that a jump of one degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in seasonal mean temperature can shave six or seven percent off of yields in some regions.

But the additional crop losses at the end of the 20th century could be due to other causes as well, they said.

Global warming has heated Earth by 1C since the start of the Industrial Revolution, mostly over the last 50 years.

Under the umbrella of the United Nations, the world's nations have vowed to hold the increase to "well under 2C".

Somewhat surprisingly, heatwaves and drought claimed twice as much cereal production -- 20 percent -- in the United States, Canada and Europe than in the developing world.

This was probably due to the prevalence of industrial-scale mono-culture -- growing a single crop over vast tracts of land.

"If a drought hits in a way that is damaging to those crops, they will all suffer," Lesk said in a statement.

"By contrast, in much of the developing world, the cropping systems are a patchwork of small fields with diverse crops. If a drought hits, some of thos crops may be damaged, but others may survive."

 

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

drought heat slash grain crops drought heat slash grain crops

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

drought heat slash grain crops drought heat slash grain crops

 



GMT 09:59 2018 Monday ,10 December

Relatively cold weather continue for three days

GMT 12:00 2017 Wednesday ,07 June

Actress Mai Omar keen to diversify her roles

GMT 20:02 2016 Wednesday ,06 July

Emir of Kuwait visits Austria

GMT 21:38 2017 Tuesday ,19 September

Lebanon Parliament speaker proposes vote by year-end

GMT 14:12 2017 Thursday ,21 September

FIFA investigate Chelsea over youth recruitment

GMT 07:42 2018 Saturday ,06 January

A creative outlet for Casablanca's deprived youth

GMT 12:12 2014 Monday ,02 June

Japan's new auto sales down due to tax hike

GMT 20:05 2015 Wednesday ,16 September

Brunel silence has doomed Italy's World Cup

GMT 16:13 2016 Wednesday ,17 August

North Korean deputy ambassador in UK defects to South
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday