Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture

This article discusses the effects of climate change on agriculture, including the impact on crops, irrigation, and food security. It also explores the predictions for future climate change and the need for awareness and control of human activities that contribute to climate change.

Running head: EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON AGRICULTURE
Effects of Climate change on Agriculture
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1EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON AGRICULTURE
Introduction
It can be said that in contemporary times the change in climate and the variability of the
climate has become one of the chief concerns of the human society and frequent floods and
droughts are adding fuel to the situation. It is a matter of fact that by the recent climatic changes
and the consequences like drought, floods are harming the global economy in many ways and
due to adverse changes in the climate various landslides, forest fires, tsunamis and volcanic
eruptions are also seen those are harming the global economy. It is seen that the rapid
industrialization is responsible for these events in many ways as due to that the increase in the
aerosols in the biosphere because of increased carbon di oxide, chloro-fluro-carbon and other
green house gas elements in the biosphere. Not only those, the depletion of ozone and increased
uv rays are also harmful and that is directly causing overall global warming. Above all it can be
said that human society played a significant role in affecting the balance of the global climate. It
can be said that rapid unplanned industrialization, uncontrolled deforestation and due to rapid
industrialization contamination of the natural resources by chemical elements are destroying the
balance in the climate which is returning back the harmful aspects to the human society.
Agriculture is one of the primary lessons that human society has leant for survival and
agriculture is immensely dependent on climate, thus a rapid change in climate naturally affects
the agriculture, which affects the human society. For successful irrigation, water, weather
conditions, texture and quality of the soil, along with the elements present in the air is
significantly important and the slightest changes in any of those can potentially harm agriculture.
In this regard, it is worth mentioning that United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) has provided the definition of climate change. It can be said that either the

2EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON AGRICULTURE
change that can be attributed indirectly or directly to the activities of human beings, that can
effectively alter the global atmosphere’s composition and the natural variability if the climate
can be termed as climate change (Ren et al., 2018).
Discussion
It can be said that weather is a set of conditions like wind, snow, sunshine, rain and
temperature at a specific place and time (Lipper et al., 2014). On the other hand the long term
characteristics of the weather of a specified place can be termed as climate. Agriculture is
something that is significantly dependent on the climate of the place of irrigation and if there are
massive changes in the climate, the irrigation is immensely harmed and that can invoke various
troubles for the mankind. Since the past millions of years, the climate of earth has gone through
various changes, which have been proven by various geological tests and expeditions. The earth
has foreseen changes in sea levels, ice ages and subsequent growth of the plants and the records
of the human society for hundreds of years. In contemporary times, it is seen that significant rise
in the temperature of the sea and the rapid increase in the global temperature is creating adverse
effects on the successful irrigation and this needs to be stopped immediately for the best interests
of humankind.
It can be said that the impact of the climate change on the agriculture has become one of
the chief deciding factors that can influence the future security of food for the mankind.
Agriculture is sensitive to the adverse changes in climate and on the other hand, agriculture can
be considered as one of the major driving forces for the changes in climate. According to Ren et
al., (2018), the general understanding of the changes in weather and climate over a long period

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of time and subsequent adjustments in management practices to achieve improved harvest have
become the new challenges for the growth and development of the sector of agriculture.
It is seen that the climate sensitivity of agriculture is somewhat uncertain as there are
regional variation in temperature, cropping system, rainfall and management practices. In last
couple of decades it was seen that the inter-annual changes in the climate and weather were
greater than it was predicted and the loses of crop was higher due to climatic changes than it was
expected. This made the situation concerning and invoked various areas of improvement and
areas of studies and research regarding this issue. It is a matter of fact, that various crops react
differently to the global warming and can have a lasting impact that is complex in nature (Lipper
et al., 2014). In the tropical areas the human society is immensely dependent on agriculture as
currently 75% of the human population resides at the topical zones and the occupation of
majority of them is agriculture. Wheat, rice, maize, barley are the major crops that are
significantly dependent on the climate and the rapid changes in the climate can significantly
affect the irrigation and have a lasting effect on the security of food for the mankind (Gleick,
2014).
The recent predictions in the change of climate at a global level is dependent on the
models made in computer to predict the climatic system which includes various important factors
of the atmosphere and the predicted growth of the presence of green house gases in the
atmosphere (Wiebe, Sulser & Mason-D'Croz, 2017). Some of the predictions regarding global
changes in climate are mentioned in this section of this research essay. According to the studies
of Chen, Chen & Xu (2016), it can be said that by the year of 2100, the rise in overall
temperature will be 1.1 to 7 degree centigrade. The level of sea can rise up to 60 cms which is
concerning for the coastal regions of earth. Various geological and atmospherically made

4EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON AGRICULTURE
surveys predict that there will be extreme heat waves and heavy precipitation events that can be
experienced with increased frequency (Wiebe et al., 2015). It can also be said that the tropical
cyclones will eventually become more intense having larger wind speeds and peak along with the
increase in the sea surface temperatures in the tropical areas of earth.
In this regard, it is worth mentioning that the effects of climate changes on the agriculture
may differ in different regions of earth and thus determining to what extent the climate change
can affect the agricultural sector might become very complex (O’Neill et al., 2014). The
fluctuations in the global temperature, changes in the patterns of rainfall, the increased level of
co2 and other green house gases are the key factors of the climate changes. These can potentially
influence the productivity of crops as these can potentially change the pattern of the , pets and
the diseases they invoke in the agricultural field (Ren et al..2018). Due to these, it can be said
that, these changes an effectively influence the productivity of crops and the suitable or
appropriate areas for cultivation of food products may have to undergo a geographic shift as a
reaction to the rapid changes in climate (Burke & Emerick, 2016).
From the discussion above, it can be said that there can be various negative effects of
climate change in the agricultural sector and this section of this essay emphasizes on those. It is
seen that due to geographical shifts and changes in yielding in agriculture may have a lasting
effect on the agricultural sector. According to Altieri & Nicholls (2017), due to significant rise
in the sea levels can cause immense loss of land and that can affect agricultural sector. Due to the
adverse effects of climate change, it can be said that the amount of water that is used for
agricultural sector may get reduced as due to global warming the access to fresh water may get
decreased (Moore & Lobell, 2014). Some positive effects on agricultural sector can also be seen
as changes in climate can cause heavy rainfall in some areas and can improve irrigation in those

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places. The increased temperature can potentially decrease the efficiency of the pests and can
effectively reduce their potential to spread diseases in the field full of crops (Springmann et al.,
2016).
Conclusion
Thus to conclude, it can be said the adverse effects of climatic change can effectively
influence the agricultural sector that can invoke a concerning situation for the humankind. Thus,
it can be said that activities like uncontrolled deforestation, rapid industrialization without
considering the ill effects of them should be controlled. The awareness regarding this issue
should be increased so that the ill effects of the situation can be controlled for the best interests
of the human society. It is a matter of fact that the way the society is moving forward eyeing
technological advancements, the awareness regarding this burning issue should be increased as
the survival of the human society is immensely dependent on the agriculture and it is a fact that
agriculture helps to sustain the balance of the climate and the overall nature.

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