The world's farmers are handicapped not only by falling water tables, but
also by rising temperatures. During this past summer, farmers in key
food-producing regions were confronted with some of the highest temperatures
on record. The U.S. harvest has suffered from a combination of record heat
and drought, which dramatically lowered the 2002 grain harvest. India's
harvest has also suffered from high temperatures, including a heat wave in
which temperatures reached 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in
May, killing more than 1,000 people in the state of Andhra Pradesh alone.
Record temperatures are accelerating the melting of ice as well. Several new
studies report that the earth's ice cover is melting faster than projected
by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in early 2001. A
team of U.S. Geological Survey scientists, using satellite data to measure
changes in the area covered by glaciers, described an acceleration of
melting glaciers in several mountainous regions, including the South
American Andes, the Swiss Alps, and the French and Spanish Pyrenees. Other
studies show ice melting faster than anticipated in the Himalayas and the
U.S. Rocky Mountains and Alaska. Although less than two years have passed
since the completion of the IPCC report, the new data recording the
acceleration of ice melting mean that the rise in sea level it projected for
this century is already outdated.
also by rising temperatures. During this past summer, farmers in key
food-producing regions were confronted with some of the highest temperatures
on record. The U.S. harvest has suffered from a combination of record heat
and drought, which dramatically lowered the 2002 grain harvest. India's
harvest has also suffered from high temperatures, including a heat wave in
which temperatures reached 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in
May, killing more than 1,000 people in the state of Andhra Pradesh alone.
Record temperatures are accelerating the melting of ice as well. Several new
studies report that the earth's ice cover is melting faster than projected
by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in early 2001. A
team of U.S. Geological Survey scientists, using satellite data to measure
changes in the area covered by glaciers, described an acceleration of
melting glaciers in several mountainous regions, including the South
American Andes, the Swiss Alps, and the French and Spanish Pyrenees. Other
studies show ice melting faster than anticipated in the Himalayas and the
U.S. Rocky Mountains and Alaska. Although less than two years have passed
since the completion of the IPCC report, the new data recording the
acceleration of ice melting mean that the rise in sea level it projected for
this century is already outdated.