Climate Change: Headline

Sun Star (Philippines): Rice is the principal food for over 60 percent of mankind. It is particularly important to Asia where over half of the world's population lives. Another bad news that global warming brings is that rice yields may greatly be reduced. Even modest rises in global temperatures will drive down rice production in the region, where millions of poor people depend on it as a staple food, according to a report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers from the United States, the Philippines and the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) analyzed six years of data from 227 irrigated rice farms in China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. A study done by the Laguna-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) showed that rice plants could benefit from higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. However, an increase in temperature up to four degrees Celsius caused by global warming would "nullify any yield increase." Another limiting factor in rice production is water. An estimated 40 percent of agricultural products and 60 percent of the world's grain are grown on irrigated land. "Agriculture is by far the biggest consumer of water worldwide," IRRI said. For instance, to raise a ton of rice, you need a thousand gallons of water.

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