How do climate change affect rice, wheat and maize?

In 2018, in the pages of the scientific journal NaturePlants Monday published the results of a study with a disappointing prognosis. After studying the effect of a gradual increase in the temperature of our planet on plants, scientists came to the conclusion that by 2099 the barley crop on the earth will decrease and beer will become a scarce product. Well, mankind will be able to live without intoxicated drinks, but how will climate change affect crops as important as wheat, corn and rice? After all, these agricultural plants produce daily bread and other products rich in healthy calories that are necessary for us. The search for an answer to this question was undertaken by British and Austrian scientists.

In the future, humanity may be left without rice

The results of their scientific work were published inthe scientific journal Nature Climate Change. In their work, researchers carefully studied how weather events such as floods and prolonged droughts can affect the agricultural industry of the United States, Russia, China and other countries. In particular, they were interested in regions in which the production of wheat, corn and rice is most developed.

Wheat, by the way, is also in great danger.

How do climate change harm agriculture?

As the temperature of our planet risesgradually, researchers studied the effects of various weather conditions on crop yields between 1967-1990 and 1991-2012. Rice has drawn particular attention from scientists because this crop rarely suffers from heat. However, she really does not need to be afraid of her, because rice, for the most part, grows in fields pre-flooded with water. In addition, researchers found that in some regions this plant benefits from air pollution. For example, statistics showed that in India and Indonesia, rice often received sunburn, and a large amount of dust in the air significantly reduces the brightness of the sun and protects the plant from heat. However, the dirty air interferes with the plant in China, because there the sun, on the contrary, cannot provide the culture with sufficient heat.

So rice fields look like

Do you know how global warming can destroy most of the plants in Europe?

If rice still has a chance of survival inIn the future we are unlikely to be left without it, things are much more complicated with wheat and corn. According to statistics, these important crops are very difficult to tolerate high temperatures and are sensitive to humidity. As it turned out, both long rains and prolonged droughts harm these plants. Between 1967 and 1990, the proportion of regions suffering from poor wheat and corn yields was 3.4%. From the end of the 20th century to the present day, the average temperature of our planet has risen slightly and by 2012, poor productivity has risen to 4%.

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Climate change is happening even now andin the future, the productivity of all three crops may continue to decline. But humanity harms not only them, but many other plants. For example, this is evidenced by the results of a study conducted by employees of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. In mid-2019, they found out that due to the destruction of the natural conditions of plant growth in order to build various buildings, from 1753 to 2018, humanity destroyed more than 500 species of trees and other vegetation. The worst thing is that this figure is constantly growing.