As global warming worsens, scientists claimed that the Britain's agricultural landscape will transform drastically.
The new study was led by the University of Exeter in a hope of finding the effect of estimated increase of 5 degrees Celsius to the global average temperature by 2100, which is published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
The switch...
Tim Lenton, a professor from the university who also led the research, said that the agricultural lands in Britain will become too dry in the future summers. It will make the livestock and even wheat production too unstable.
The basis of this conclusion was the estimation that the United Kingdom would have 140mm less rainfall between April to September in that region by the end of the 21st century. The southeast region will become especially vulnerable as it will experience more acute drying compared to the rest.
Currently, the livestock pastures are more commonly found in the northern and western Britain, but because of the climate change, farmers from these regions might switch to crop growing farming instead.
The south and east regions, on the other hand, will become better suited for low-density livestock farming since the land will become too dry. These regions right now are the prime producers of crops.
But why the need to switch?
In general, crop production is more profitable than livestock, primarily because it uses less resources like land and produces more "product". So even with the poor soils and steep slopes in the north, switching to this kind of farming might give the farmer a better income.
Global warming is primarily caused by intense emission of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. And the farmers can take advantage of that. The enzymes in plants work better on places that have higher concentration of carbon dioxide than oxygen.
Dr. Paul Ritchie, also from the University of Exeter, said that crops can still be grown even in the dry season through the aid of irrigation. Even if it is a major challenge, farmers can simply save water from rainfall or transport it from wetter areas of the country.
About 72 percent of the total land in the United Kingdom is dedicated for agriculture alone. And about 1 million citizens are dependent on this industry.
The study was published by the Natural Environment Research Council.
Drought and Malnutrition
In July, the United Nations reported that hunger had affected at least 820 million people, with food insecurity and economic equality as its main driver.
Food security was linked with climate change, and that's why it was also discussed in the UN Secretary-General's Climate Action Summit on September 23 in New York.
With this hunger problem, it does not make sense that a third of the food we produced has gone to waste, Zitouni Ould-Dada of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.
By 2050, the estimated global population will be at least 10 billion. To feed these people, Ould-Dada said that we have to address climate change and we have to be "smart" on our food consumption.
Addressing climate change is about the choice that we made, he also said.