Himalaya's shrinking glaciers creates food crisis
Monday, 4 October 2010
NEW DELHI, Oct 3 (Commodity Online): Global warming remains one of the major problems affecting the entire world that could create a food crisis in the long term.
Himalay's are holding the largest glaciers outside poles and shrinking of it could reduce water sources for crops in a vast area depending on it.
According to a stubby by Dutch scientists, nearly 60 million people living around the Himalayas will suffer food shortages in the coming decades.
As the earth's temperature continues to rise, mountain glaciers are melting throughout the world. Nowhere is this of more concern than in Asia. It is the ice melt from glaciers in the Himalayas and on the Tibetan plateau that sustain the major rivers of India and China, and the irrigation systems that depend on them, during the dry season.
After a certain point, rising temperatures reduce crop yields. For each degree celsius rise in temperature above the norm during the growing season, farmers can expect a 10-per cent decline in wheat, rice, and corn yields.
Himalay's are holding the largest glaciers outside poles and shrinking of it could reduce water sources for crops in a vast area depending on it.
According to a stubby by Dutch scientists, nearly 60 million people living around the Himalayas will suffer food shortages in the coming decades.
As the earth's temperature continues to rise, mountain glaciers are melting throughout the world. Nowhere is this of more concern than in Asia. It is the ice melt from glaciers in the Himalayas and on the Tibetan plateau that sustain the major rivers of India and China, and the irrigation systems that depend on them, during the dry season.
After a certain point, rising temperatures reduce crop yields. For each degree celsius rise in temperature above the norm during the growing season, farmers can expect a 10-per cent decline in wheat, rice, and corn yields.