Threat of ‘heatflation’ looms large as climate change shrinks farm and seafood output, experts say
- Rising temperatures are already causing changes to rice-growing patterns in China
- A 2 degree increase in global temperature can lead to significant declines in key commercial fish species in the South China Sea, ADM Capital Foundation report says
“Even small changes in climatic conditions can result in large gains or losses in crop yields and production quantities,” said Aurelia Britsch, director of climate risk at Sustainable Fitch, the sustainable finance research unit of Fitch Ratings, in written comments to the Post.
Rising temperatures are already forcing rice farmers in southern China, one of the country’s main rice-growing regions, to shift to higher latitudes, while the fast-warming oceans are affecting fish species diversity in the East and South China Sea.
As temperatures trend upwards in China, combined with increased frequency and intensification of droughts, it will have a detrimental effect on rice yields in southern and eastern China, by limiting photosynthesis and lowering pollen production, according to a report published last November by Fitch Solutions.
