subject: Global Warming Threatens Rice Production In Asia [print this page] Escalating temperatures will drive down rice production in Asia, where more than 90 percent of the worlds rice is produced and consumed, according to an international study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States on Monday.
A team of researchers from the United States, the Philippines, and the U.N.-backed Food and Agriculture Organization wrote the report after studying the records of some 227 farms across six of Asias most important rice-producing countries: China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. According to the study, rising temperatures in several of these key growing areas over the last 25 years have led to a 10 percent to 20 percent decline in rice output.
As the daily minimum temperature increases, or as nights get hotter, rice yields drop, said the reports lead author, University of California at San Diegos Jarrod Welch. Up to a point, higher daytime temperatures can increase rice yield, but future yield losses caused by higher nighttime temperatures will likely outweigh any such gains because temperatures are rising faster at night.
While the exact reason for this has not been proven, some scientists believe that rice plants are having to respire more as nights become warmer, resulting in the plants spending more energy without being about to photosynthesize.
In a separate study in 2004, researchers found that rice production in the Philippines was dropping 10 percent for every increase of two degrees Fahrenheit in average nighttime minimum temperature.
If we cannot change our rice production methods or develop new rice strains that can withstand higher temperatures, there will be a loss in rice production over the next few decades as days and nights get hotter, Welch said.
by: Dezan Shira & Associates
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