Effects of Climate change on Agriculture-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Effects of Climate change on Agriculture. Answer: 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 affe cting 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 Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has provided the definition of climate change. It can be said that either the change that can be attributed indirectly or directly to the activities of human beings, that can effectively alter the global atmospheres 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 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 change s 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 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 p eak 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 (ONeill 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 places. The increased temperature can potentially decrease the efficiency of the pests and can effectively reduce their potential to spre ad 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. 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