Climate Change Endangers India, U.N. Says
NEW DELHI, Aug. 7 — As exceptionally heavy rains continued to cut a wide swath of ruin across northern India, a top United Nations official warned today that climate change could destroy vast swaths of farmland in this country, ultimately affecting food production and adding to the woes of already desperate peasants who live off of the land.
Even a small increase in temperatures, said Jacques Diouf, head of the Food and Agricultural Organization, could push down crop yields in the south around the world, even as agricultural productivity goes up in northern climes, including Europe. A greater frequency of droughts and floods, one of the hallmarks of climate change, the agency added, could be particularly bad for agriculture.
clipped from: www.nytimes.com