Climate Change Hurting Poor Farmers Most

by Natasha Chart · 2009-04-27 07:05:00 UTC
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Phillipine farmers already feeling the pain:

... “Climate change affects the hydrology of an area. Weather patterns have changed. Now, farmers can no longer rely on suggested planting calendars,” said [University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) statistics professor Dr. Felino] Lansigan in a phone interview with the BusinessMirror. He also noted “significant” yield losses due to increasing temperatures and “extreme” climate variability from the effects of heightened El Niño and La Niña occurrences.

... Citing 2004 statistics from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), Lansigan said average annual temperatures have increased by 0.14 degrees Celsius from 1971 to 2000. Meanwhile, average annual rainfall has increased since the 1980s alongside a noted rise in the occurrence of landslides and floods. ...

Sadly, they're going to try genetically modified rice strains that are supposedly flood-resistant in order to combat their problems. Maybe that will work better than other GM crop applications, which have mostly been successful in growing pesticide sales.

Natasha Chart
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