Risks and solutions.
As the world grapples with the challenge of feeding a growing population against an increasingly unstable backdrop, leading journal Science today published what’s believed to be the most comprehensive scientific review ever undertaken into how climate change is likely to exacerbate the significant environmental impacts that agriculture already makes on our planet.
Led by scientists from China’s Chongqing University alongside numerous international institutions including The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the study catalogues the extent to which the long-term health of people and nature depends on the resilience and sustainability of food production systems in light of ongoing climate change.
“The paper highlights where agriculture’s negative environmental impacts could be further magnified as the climate crisis deepens, exacerbating greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient pollution, and habitat and soil loss,” said lead author Yi Yang, professor at Chongqing University.
Based on a comprehensive review of pre-existing science, the study predicts that climate change is likely to compound agriculture’s existing impacts by shrinking harvests, reducing the effectiveness of synthetic inputs like fertilizers, and accelerating the damage caused by crop pests and soil erosion.
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE AT THE NATURE CONSERVANCY
