Question

Introduction on how climate change and its effects on the efficiency of food production.

Answer 1

Climate change and food production are interrelated processes, both of which take place on a global scale. Climate change affects agriculture in a number of ways, including through changes in average temperatures, rainfall, and climate extremes (e.g., heat waves); changes in pests and diseases; changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide and ground-level ozone concentrations; changes in the nutritional quality of some foods; and changes in sea level. A year of not enough or too much rainfall, a hot spell or cold snap at the wrong time, or extremes, like flooding and storms, can have a significant effect on local crop yields and livestock production.

Climate change is already affecting agriculture, with effects unevenly distributed across the world. Future climate change will likely negatively affect crop production in low latitude countries, while effects in northern latitudes may be positive or negative. Climate change will probably increase the risk of food insecurity for some vulnerable groups, such as the poor.

Agriculture contributes to climate change by (1) anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), and (2) by the conversion of non-agricultural land (e.g., forests) into agricultural land. Agriculture, forestry and land-use change contributed around 20 to 25% to global annual emissions in 2010.