Global Warming and Future Food Supply

Global warming refers to the gradual increase of the average temperature of the Earth’s climate. Average global temperatures, for example, have risen by approximately 0.13 °C per decade since 1950, and scientists predict they will rise at nearly twice that rate over the next few decades. The effect of such temperature increases on the global production of some basic crops is already beginning to be noticed by researchers. Production of maize and wheat, for example, has declined by 3.8% and 5.5%, respectively, between 1980 and 2008, relative to the yields that would have been expected in the absence of global warming. These percentage declines are equivalent to losing the whole of the annual production of maize in Mexico and wheat in France.

Global warming, and the ...