Strategies for a Changing Planet: Farming
Better Seeds David ArkyWheat, rice and corn provide 60 percent of the world's calories -- here's how to prepare them for the future Climate change is already happening, and it's time to get ready. Here's how we could adjust our most basic needs--food, water, shelter--to survive. The biggest challenge in preparing crops for climate change is knowing what to prepare them for. Even within agricultural regions, the effects of global warming will vary. HELP WHEAT EVOLVE Consider Kansas, the source of a fifth of America's wheat. Parts of eastern Kansas are now 20 percent wetter than they were in 1900. Rainfall in western Kansas remains largely unchanged, and the region could become much drier over the next century. Meanwhile, short-term fluctuations are becoming more extreme. Last year, despite the long-term increase in rainfall in the area, the state placed every county in southeast Kansas under drought warning or drought emergency. Stephen...