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Rice Yields Under Threat Due to Global Warming
According to a report in New Scientist, the study is a combination of 80 different studies on rice and climate change, reviewed by Elizabeth Ainsworth of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
The study indicates that in regions where the average daily temperatures are expected to rise above 30šC, rice yields will start to fall off, and the impact will get worse as the temperature increases.
Though the drop in yield caused by rising temperatures can be counteracted by the boost to photosynthesis provided by the increased levels of carbon dioxide driving climate change, that effect is not strong enough to counteract the stress plants suffer at high temperatures.
Harvests will also be reduced by rising ground-level ozone concentrations, which are caused by nitrogen oxides (NOX) from power stations that catalyse the formation of ozone in warm and sunny conditions.
Ainsworths review found that ozone concentrations of around 60 parts per billion, which have already being recorded on farms in China and the United States, cause yields to drop by 14%.
According to Ainsworth, new varieties of rice, bred to tolerate high ozone and increased temperatures, are urgently needed.
She points out that tropical regions need these varieties most, as temperatures there are already close to the maximum that traditional types of rice can withstand. And these many of those areas, including parts of Africa, already suffer regular food shortages.
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