Global Warming and the Food Crisis

The potential consequences of global warming on agriculture could be devastating. New research predicts that, due to rising global average temperatures, droughts and crop failures will become prevalent.
Another major factor that will effect the food chain is our population explosion to some 7 billion and rising living standards in Asia will result in more demand for food.

Strategy for Global warming is to Hope for the best and Plan for the Worst.

Britain’s late chief scientific advisor, John Beddington, has warned that major climate change will be preceded by an unprecedented food shortage. If this should happen, the staple foods of the Western world (bread and beer) will become unaffordable on the average person’s wage. Historical stopgaps, like rice and corn, will be equally out of reach, and potatoes, which do not require pollination, may become the new gold -- if there is land to grow them, and enough water to bring them to harvest.

In the short term, the world can simply not bear another patch of bad weather. With such low world stocks of food commodities, food prices are vulnerable to a production shortfall in one or more major production areas. If a significant shortfall occurs this year due to weather or disease, food prices might continue to rise sharply from the current high level. With countries erecting new trade barriers, it may no longer be easy for importing countries to buy food off the shelf.

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2008-04-10-food-climate-change_N.htm