Research Paper on Global Warming and the Effect on Crop Production

Introduction

Global warming will have a significant negative impact on food production in the next 20 years due to the changing climate. Global warming influences the patterns of rains as well as the weather components such as humidity which has significant impacts on crop production. Crop production is likely to decline as agricultural areas become less supportive for agricultural production due to insufficient or excessive rains which will be experienced as the patterns of the weather change making it difficult to predict the best time for land preparation and seed propagation. On the contrary, some scientists argue that global warming will lead to an increase in food production due to the increased CO2 production and increased water due to the melting of the glacier. Global warming leads to the change in temperatures, precipitation, and extreme weather events which in this case can be in favor of food production. Therefore, there is a counter-argument that global warming will only increase food production because of the increased rainfall and temperatures which favor plant growth and maturity. However, in favor of the argument that global warming will reduce food production is that although weather changes might not be severe farmers will increase more costs to do farming which will reduce overall yields due to the cost of farming under the prevailing conditions. This paper will assess the hypothesis that global warming will lead to decreased food production and the null hypothesis that global warming will not affect food production. Therefore, the paper will address the pros and cons of global warming and their impact on food production through a systematic literature review.

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Literature Arguing Global Warming will Reduce Food Production

Some researchers have argued that global warming will lead to rampant food insecurity due to the decrease in agricultural yields across the globe. Climate change due to global warming is resulting in unpredictable and extreme weather patterns which disrupts crop productions, especially in developing countries.

Islam, M. S., & Wong, A. T. (2017). Climate Change and Food In/Security.

According to Islam & Wong (2017), global warming is a major factor causing climate change which has a direct impact on food production and the standard of living. Climate change is attributed to the rising global temperatures and the release of greenhouse gases. Global warming has led to the rise of average world temperatures by 0.740celsious which has led to a rise in the speed at which glaciers are disintegrating. As a result of climate change and rising temperatures and the decline in agricultural potential across the world. The decline in agricultural production has led to rampant malnutrition and risk of starvation to a large population according to the United Nation's Food and Agricultural Organization.

Islam & Wong (2017) notes that global warming has led to an increase in the number of climate extremities has led to flooding which leads to the destruction of food crops on farms. The increasing sea levels do not increase food production but lead to the excessive availability of water due to flooding which significantly reduces food production. The salt water due to the rising sea level intrudes on agricultural land which significantly affects food production by changing the salinity and acidity of the soil. Besides, global warming increase in water and eutrophication of the soil due to the melting of glaciers leads to increased growth of vegetation and weeds which affects food production as well as areas viable for food production.

Howard, P., & Sterner, T. (2014, July). Raising the temperature of food prices: Climate change, food security, and the social cost of carbon.

Howard & Sterner (2014) identifies the long-term impact of global warming on food production in the world. The authors find that the damage on food production will rise in the long-term as the global temperature the food production decreases globally. Food production is biological in nature which means that climate change due to global warming will influence precipitation and temperatures which are the necessary requirements for optimum food production. The authors note that the damage of climate change caused by global warming will continue to worsen as time passes and estimates should be adopted as they change for policy decision making.

Howard & Sterner (2014) uses an empirical model that is derived from the changes in climate to assess global warming impact on agricultural production. The model regresses the farmland value which plays a significant role in crop production. The farmland value changes with the change in land characteristics such as precipitation and temperature which has helped the authors to identify the declining production as time progresses due to the increase in overall atmospheric temperature. Harris, J. M., Roach, B., & Environmental, J. M. H. (2007). The economics of global climate change.

Harris, Roach, & Environmental (2007) identifies the different impacts of increasing global temperatures on food production in different regions. The authors identify that increased global temperatures due to global warming will increase yields in the areas with moderate temperatures while decreasing agricultural yields in the tropics and higher altitude areas. The increased temperatures favor the increase in ocean acidity which will reduce fish stocks and this has already started being experienced as the number of fish reduce globally.

The melting of glaciers due to the increase in temperatures has been found to lead to decreased freshwater supplies and the availability of water for agriculture. Harris et al., (2007) agrees with many researchers that global warming will significantly affect food production across the world. Coastal areas will completely be rendered unsuitable for agriculture due to the rise in sea level which leads to flooding making the soil along coastal areas unsuitable for agriculture. Therefore, that authors note that global warming will significantly reduce crop production and food security.

Hamdan, M. E., Man, N., Yassin, S. M., D'Silva, J. L., & Shaffril, H. M. (2013). Farmers' adaptive capacity towards the impacts of global warming.

Hamdan et al., (2013) assesses how changes in atmospheric temperatures will affect agriculture in Malaysia and how farmers can adapt to the changing environmental conditions. Climate is a major determinant of crop production and the authors identify the decrease in crop production due to weather instability. Through literature review and document analysis, the authors identified that the rising temperatures due to global warming are affecting farmer's routines and variety of crops. Global warming is considered a significant threat to Malaysia due to overdependence on agriculture.

Global warming has led to the decline in palm oil, rice, and vegetable production in a great margin which are main foodstuffs for the people in Malaysia and Asia as a whole. In the literature review, a study found out that the rise in world temperature will decrease the grain weight while another literature source points out that the warmer climate will pose a significant challenge in growing grains. The rising sea levels will result in the contamination of inland agricultural freshwater and land which will increase the cost of preparing plantations due to the need to prevent flooding.

Masters, G., Baker, P., & Flood, J. (2010). Climate change and agricultural commodities.

Masters et al., (2010) argues on the impacts of the rising temperatures on agriculture why considering factors such as climate change. Global warming has led to the changes in climates, temperatures and the rising sea level which has been linked to the deterioration of agricultural production. Temperature and precipitation increase leads to a decrease in food production while an increase in extreme weather conditions leads to the destruction of food products on farms.

Climate change due to global warming will result in the increase in agricultural products pressure which will lead to rampant food shortages. Agriculture production systems are increasingly becoming volatile due to environmental changes as the level of temperatures increase. Countries such as China are going to lose self-sufficiency in food production as climate change due to global warming limits the production of food which will be worse by 2030.

Barlow et al., (2015). Appetite for Change Global Warming Impacts on Food and Farming Regions in Australia

The authors assess the impact of global warming on farming in Australia. Global warming will lead to climate change which will result in rainfall, precipitation and temperature fluctuation in different areas of Australia. It is clear that with a change in the weather farming and farm outputs are going to be affected too. Almonds which are planted in warm, dry and mild wet winters will significantly be affected. Almonds are a perennial and a change in the weather will significantly affect production as well as overall yields. Almonds depend on the chilling of the winter to flower during spring and global warming increases temperatures during spring which results in restricted pollination and total yields. Bananas which are also a major food crop in Australia will be affected by the changing weather conditions due to global warming.

Most of Australia's banana products come from Queensland coastal region which is exposed to cyclones due to climate change caused by warming effects of global warming. As a result, infrastructure and food production in the coastal region of Queensland will be affected which will result in food shortages. Apples are another food crop in Australia that is significantly affected by increasing temperature conditions which will significantly reduce yields. Sun damage on fruit growing areas will be significant which will affect yields or seek the adoption of more expensive farming practices such as shade netting to reduce the heating effect and as a result increase production cost (Barlow et al., 2015). Therefore, the authors conclude that climate change will increase the cost of production and reduce yields in agricultural products which in future will result in food shortages in Australia and other parts of the world that depends on produce from Australia.

Hatfield, J. L., & Prueger, J. H. (2015). Temperature extremes: Effect on plant growth and development.

According to the authors, temperature plays a significant role in the development and maturation of plants. Climate change is expected to lead to warm temperature and weather in some climates that have been unable to support crop production due to low temperatures which will increase food production. However, plants that require pollination and seed production are highly affected by warm environments which significantly reduces yields.

Despite the existence of different cultivars of rice and other plants with different flowering times which can overcome the different day temperature rises to ensure high production the development of seeds is highly affected by the increasing temperatures due to global warming. Therefore, crops yields decrease with the increase in temperatures which can significantly harm global food security as the trend of global warming increases.

Cline, W. R. (2008). Global warming and agriculture.

Global warming is caused by the increased emission of carbon will have a significant impact on agriculture productivity especially in the developing countries which do not have resources and technology capability to introduce adaptive measures according to Cline (2008). Most developing countries especially those in warm areas will be significantly affect...