BEIJING, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Warming weather may pose a threat to China's long-term food security, a report on climate change said.
China's harvest of crops such as rice, wheat and corn could fall as much as by up to 37 percent in the second half of this century if nothing substantive is done to curb greenhouse gasses in the next 20 to 50 years, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Global warming will negatively affect China's ecological and economic systems, especially agricultural and animal farming, and the country's water supply, according to the report, a joint effort by six government departments and academic organizations.
The average temperature in China rose between 0.5 degrees and 0.8 degrees during the past century and is anticipated to climb another 2 degrees to 3 degrees in the coming 50 to 80 years, the report said.
Besides warmer temperatures, the report said most areas of China would be drier, even though the average rainfall may increase by up to 10 percent.
