Farming with more carbon dioxide

摘要

Agriculture is on the front line of climate change. Even small shifts in temperature and greenhouse gases will have far-reaching consequences. A recent study looked at the impact of elevated carbon dioxide levels on wheat yields, with surprising results. Australia's climate is changing. We need to know how crops will respond to a future climate that is warmer and drier and has more carbon dioxide. The past decade has seen difficult seasonal conditions, with a string of below average rainfall years, coupled with warmer temperatures. Figure 1 is taken from Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) weather records showing that since the 1970s, the five decades leading up to 2010 has seen about 45mm less annual rainfall on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.