Global warming would help many US crops - EPA report

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Global warming would help many US crops - EPA report

WASHINGTON - Global warming means that U.S. farms are likely to increase
production of soybeans, cotton, sorghum and oranges during the coming
decades, according to a new U.S. government report. Farmers will also need
less irrigation water and more pesticides because of slightly warmer
temperatures expected across the continental United States from carbon
emissions, the Environmental Protection Agency report said. In the
document, the Bush administration endorsed for the first time the widely
held view of scientists that U.S. greenhouse gas emissions will rise
significantly over the next two decades due mostly to human activities. The
White House had previously said there was not enough scientific evidence to
blame oil refining, power plants and automobile emissions for global
warming. The administration has rejected participating in the international
Kyoto treaty to reduce greenhouse gases, saying a less-costly and effective
approach is to encourage voluntary emission cuts by industry. Although
climate change could threaten U.S. barrier islands and mountain meadows,
the EPA report said most American farmers had little to worry about. "Based
on studies to date, unless there is inadequate or poorly distributed
precipitation, the net effects of climate change on the agricultural
segments of the U.S. economy over the 21st century are generally projected
to be positive," the report said. The United States has more than 1 billion
acres (420 million hectares) of farmland, pastures and grazing land. The
rising concentration of carbon dioxide in the soil is beneficial to many
crops and should help continue decades of rising crop yields, the report
said. Higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in the soil and slightly
warmer temperatures should benefit crops such as cotton, corn, soybeans,
sorghum, barley, sugar beets and citrus fruits, it said. "In general,
northern areas such as the Midwest, West and Pacific Northwest are
projected to show large gains in yields, while influences on crop yields in
other regions vary more widely," the report said. For example, some
scientific studies cited by the report estimated soybean crop yields could
climb by 23 percent to 40 percent, depending on the specific scenario of
rainfall and temperature. Orange crop yields could soar by 13 percent to
120 percent. However, corn yields would climb by a more modest 1 percent to
9 percent, the report said. More carbon also helps the soil hold water and
plants grow faster, so that farmers will need less irrigation water, the
EPA report said. However, climate change also means many growers will need
to use more pesticides, the report said without elaboration. The EPA
acknowledged that scientific analyses have not considered all of the
consequences of climate change on crop pests, diseases and extreme weather.
"Agricultural technology is currently undergoing rapid change, and future
production technologies and practices seem likely to be able to contain or
reduce these impacts," the EPA report said. Farmers in the Southeast face
more uncertainties linked to climate change. The EPA report said a change
in planting dates and genetically altered crop varieties will be important
for the Southeast in case summer rainfall declines. Story Date: 4/6/2002
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