The Causes and Effects of Climate Change in Decreasing Food Production

Food security is a serious universal concern of the continuously increasing population. There are several factors which influence food security and climate change are the main concerns. Climate change occurs due to global warming which could be natural or by human activities like industrial development and greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change involves rising temperatures, precipitation, rainfall, and humidity which leads to natural disasters like drought, floods and earthquakes. Most significant factors are rising temperature, drought and soil erosion which directly affect the seed germination and plant growth or indirectly by producing different pathogens and plant diseases which leads towards loss of agricultural production. Major crop yields are expected to drop by more than 50% by 2050 and by over 90% by 2100. It is predicted that, temperatures will increase by 3°C by 2040 and 5–6°C by the end of the century, resulting in a 50% decrease in wheat yield for Asian nations. Additionally, it is predicted that overall agricultural productivity will decrease by 8% to 10% as temperatures rise. Aquaculture, which is a main source of food security in many countries, is also affected by rising temperature, floods and tsunami and caused damage of fishery products. The productivity of marine fisheries has decreased by 4% on average, and fisheries catch capability will decrease by 5.3% to 7% by 2050. Climate change also can affect post-harvest storage of grain due to rising temperature and high moisture content which produce fungal growth and mycotoxin in grain which affect the quality of grain and gives less nutritive value. There should be proper management techniques to compete with this negative climatic condition like proper irrigation development.