Climate change is known to negatively affect agriculture and livestock, but there has been little scientific knowledge on which regions of the planet would be touched or what the biggest risks may be. New research led by Aalto University assesses just how global food production will be affected if greenhouse gas emissions are left uncut.
The researchers assessed how climate change would affect 27 of the most important food crops and seven different livestock, accounting for societies' varying capacities to adapt to changes. The results show that threats affect countries and continents in different ways; in 52 of the 177 countries studied, the entire food production would remain in the safe climatic space in the future. These include Finland and most other European countries.
Already vulnerable countries such as Benin, Cambodia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana and Suriname will be hit hard if no changes are made; up to 95 percent of current food production would fall outside of safe climatic space. Alarmingly, these nations also have significantly less capacity to adapt to changes brought on by climate change when compared to rich western countries. In all, 20% of the world's crop production and 18% of livestock production under threat are located in countries with low capacities to adapt to changes.
“If we let emissions grow, the increase in desert areas is especially troubling because in these conditions barely anything can grow without irrigation. By the end of this century, we could see more than 4 million square kilometres of new desert around the globe,” Matti Kummu, professor of global water and food issues at Aalto University says. “We need to lighten climate change and, at the same time, improve our food systems and societies' capacities to adapt to changes—we cannot leave the vulnerable behind. Food production must be sustainable.”
41. How does the author show the effect of climate change on the food production in paragraph 2?
A.By raising questions. | B.By stating arguments. |
C.By analyzing research data. | D.By making comparisons. |
42. What is the third paragraph mainly about?
A.The measures to be taken. | B.The threat to the vulnerable countries. |
C.The assistance of rich countries. | D.The damage to crop production. |
43. What do Kummu's words suggest?
A.He feels very desperate. | B.He cares more about others. |
C.He was in charge of the study. | D.He is worried about the vulnerable. |
44. From which section of a newspaper is the text taken?
A.Environment. | B.Technology. | C.Culture. | D.Politics. |