The Effects Of Climate Change On Food Production - 1718 Words

The state in Australia most vulnerable to the effects of climate change is Queensland (Queensland Climate Change Centre of Excellence, 2010, page 23). Queensland has one of the world’s highest rates of greenhouse gas emissions per capita, which has only continued to increase over the last decade (Queensland Climate Change Centre of Excellence, 2010, page 23). The last decade was the warmest recorded in Queensland’s history, with temperatures being 0.58 degrees Celcius higher than the average for the past four decades (Queensland Climate Change Centre of Excellence, 2010, page 1). It is estimated that by 2050, temperatures will have risen an additional 1.0-2.2 degrees Celcius and rainfall will decrease up to seven percent (Queensland†¦show more content†¦Department of the Environment. Para 19). The primary industries sector of Queensland is composed of cattle and milk, sheep and wool, poultry and eggs, pigs and other livestock, fruit, vegetables and nuts, hortic ulture, sugar cane, cotton, and other field crops, fisheries, and forestry and logging (Queensland Climate Change Centre of Excellence, 2010, page 60). Production from the primary industries is suggested to face a significant decline by 2030 due to â€Å"increased drought, reduced water resources and higher temperatures,† (Queensland Climate Change Centre of Excellence, 2010, page 61). The suggested impacts on the primary industries sector include: â€Å"warmer and drier weather in future decades over much of Queensland, more frequent droughts and drier conditions, increased frequency of severe weather events including flooding, which could also reduce primary and agricultural production through reduction in crop yields and through stock losses, and changes in average rainfall and temperatures, in seasonal distribution of rainfall and in rainfall variability, which directly affect crop production,† (Queensland Climate Change Centre of Excellence, 2010, page 60). Primar y producers are already feeling the effects of a decline in water available through rainfall and runoff, and the effects of changes in temperature are likely to be felt within the next ten years (Queensland Climate Change Centre of Excellence, 2010, page 61). Climate change will have