Feeling the heat from climate change
01 May 2007 15:11 |
Asia Pacific
John Hey
On a recent world trip, I visited a UK basking in its warmest April on record and a New York nipped by cold wind and rain (no spring in sight), before returning to a drought-stricken Australia via Beijing, which was enjoying the earliest arrival of summer in 35 years. While ‘global warming’ is all too easily cited today when we experience weird weather patterns, there is a growing body of evidence to link the unsettling meteorological scenes of the modern age with climate change.
The fresh produce trade in Asia has been affected by a series of extreme weather events in recent years, ranging from a record number of typhoons in Japan in 2004 to the hard freezes that hit citrus growers in Australia and California in 2006/07.
While such weather events look set to strike more frequently as the world gets warmer, another mounting issue facing farmers is that of water shortages. Australia’s devastating drought now heralds a crisis for its fresh produce growers, who may not have water to irrigate their crops in the coming months (see p8). Such dry conditions, while part of an El Niño weather pattern, are set to become more common with global warming – and other countries should pay heed. China’s Yangtze River is running at record-low levels for instance, with drought hitting the country’s citrus crop in 2006/07. Indeed, a recent major Chinese government report on climate change predicts that the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, which support the country’s richest agricultural regions ,will initially experience floods and then drought as the Tibetan glaciers melt over this century. It adds that water scarcity and extreme weather events are likely to slash national crop production in the decades ahead. Despite these dire warnings, the Chinese government has declared that economic growth must take priority over cuts in its huge greenhouse gas emissions. China’s economic growth is keenly watched by produce suppliers worldwide, and some may be encouraged by the government’s priorities, eyeing the rise of a huge market with a shortage of domestic crops. But there may be no China market left in the long-term, if, as looks possible, cities like Shanghai and Beijing are submerged by a one-metre rise in sea levels caused by the melting of parts of Antarctica!
Climate change is becoming a very real issue for the global fresh produce trade. Growers must address the threat to their existing production systems, adopt greener practices and lobby their governments on the issue. As the environment becomes an increasingly important factor in consumers’ purchasing decisions, marketers also need to adapt – not only to meet increased demand for organic produce, but to correct misinformation and misconceptions about ‘food miles’ and the impact of global fresh produce sourcing on the environment.
On a recent world trip, I visited a UK basking in its warmest April on record and a New York nipped by cold wind and rain (no spring in sight), before returning to a drought-stricken Australia via Beijing, which was enjoying the earliest arrival of summer in 35 years. While ‘global warming’ is all too easily cited today when we experience weird weather patterns, there is a growing body of evidence to link the unsettling meteorological scenes of the modern age with climate change.
The fresh produce trade in Asia has been affected by a series of extreme weather events in recent years, ranging from a record number of typhoons in Japan in 2004 to the hard freezes that hit citrus growers in Australia and California in 2006/07.
While such weather events look set to strike more frequently as the world gets warmer, another mounting issue facing farmers is that of water shortages. Australia’s devastating drought now heralds a crisis for its fresh produce growers, who may not have water to irrigate their crops in the coming months (see p8). Such dry conditions, while part of an El Niño weather pattern, are set to become more common with global warming – and other countries should pay heed. China’s Yangtze River is running at record-low levels for instance, with drought hitting the country’s citrus crop in 2006/07. Indeed, a recent major Chinese government report on climate change predicts that the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, which support the country’s richest agricultural regions ,will initially experience floods and then drought as the Tibetan glaciers melt over this century. It adds that water scarcity and extreme weather events are likely to slash national crop production in the decades ahead. Despite these dire warnings, the Chinese government has declared that economic growth must take priority over cuts in its huge greenhouse gas emissions. China’s economic growth is keenly watched by produce suppliers worldwide, and some may be encouraged by the government’s priorities, eyeing the rise of a huge market with a shortage of domestic crops. But there may be no China market left in the long-term, if, as looks possible, cities like Shanghai and Beijing are submerged by a one-metre rise in sea levels caused by the melting of parts of Antarctica!
Climate change is becoming a very real issue for the global fresh produce trade. Growers must address the threat to their existing production systems, adopt greener practices and lobby their governments on the issue. As the environment becomes an increasingly important factor in consumers’ purchasing decisions, marketers also need to adapt – not only to meet increased demand for organic produce, but to correct misinformation and misconceptions about ‘food miles’ and the impact of global fresh produce sourcing on the environment.
|