Subtropical crops such as dates, figs and rice could become staples of British agriculture within 20 years, according to government forecasts.
The forecasts highlight some of the unexpected benefits of a warmer climate. It means the British diet will in future be able to include produce currently imported from as far away as China and the Philippines, without incurring massive food miles.
However, some existing crops such as potatoes will struggle, as temperatures are predicted to rise by about 2C within 20 years.
A worsening water shortage threatens Iraq’s economy recovery and stability:
What was known as history’s fertile crescent, where lush farmland and abundant water gave rise to civilization, is today a dusty desert where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers crawl sluggishly toward the sea.
Vast tracts of Iraqi farmland are cracked and barren, precious marshes have dried up and sandstorms blot out the sun.
Even “Saddam River,” the flagship drainage system Saddam Hussein launched in the 1980s to restore Iraq to its ancient agriculture glory, has turned into a sickly green stream flowing far below its high-water mark.
And more on this: the Fertile Crescent ‘will disappear this century’
This summer, as Turkish dams reduce the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to a trickle, farmers abandon their desiccated fields across Iraq and Syria, and efforts to revive the Mesopotamian marshes appear to be abandoned, climate modellers are warning that the current drought is likely to become permanent. The Mesopotamian cradle of civilisation seems to be returning to desert.
Fighting climate change is key to ending poverty, says World Bank vice-president for sustainable development Katherine Sierra:
The effects of climate change — higher temperatures, shifting precipitation patterns, rising sea levels and more frequent weather-related disasters — pose serious risks for agriculture, food and water supplies. This can imperil recent gains in the fight against poverty, hunger and disease, and the lives and livelihoods of billions of people in the developing world.
What’s more, climate change will have a disproportionate impact on the poor in developing countries, even though they have done the least to cause it, are the least prepared to deal with it and will suffer the soonest and the most from it.
