August 24, 2007

Global warming may cut China's harvests by 10 percent

Global warming may have the potential to cut China's annual grain harvest by up to 10 percent by 2030, further straining farmland which is already shrinking due to rapid industrialization and urbanization, China Daily reported Thursday (Aug 23).

The paper quoted Zheng Guoguang, head of the State Meteorological Administration as saying that China may need an extra 10 million hectares (247 million acres) of farmland by 2030 just to cope with the impacts of global warming. 

Zheng, speaking at an agricultural forum in northern China added that by 2030, China's population is expected to reach a peak of 1.5 billion people, up from 1.3 billion today, meaning the country would require an extra 100 million tonnes of food.

However, global warming would affect harvests and take away 30-50 million tonnes by then. 

Farmland has been shrinking rapidly in recent years due to China's urbanisation process.

Beijing is struggling to keep farmland above the 120-million hectare level until 2010, but rapid urbanisation and industrialization means towns, cities and factories are encroaching on the target. 

Chinese authorities have issued a series of reports and studies in recent months outlining the serious impacts global warming could have on the country.

Last month environmental authorities said climate change was shrinking wetlands at the source of China's two greatest rivers -- the Yangtze and the Yellow River. The shrinking of glaciers in China's Xinjiang Region is also expected to affect rivers flowing into other regions such as Pakistan and northern India.