132 million in Asia 'face starvation'

Grain harvests in the Asian region will drop by as much as 30 percent, leading to skyrocketing food prices and the starvation of 132 million people in Asia in the 2050s, if fossil fuels continue to be consumed at the current rate, according to a report of the Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The report includes the likely impact of global warming on Asia and assesses the impact of global warming on human activities and the ecosystem. It is expected to be adopted by the U.N. IPCC at a meeting in Brussels starting Monday,

A report of the Working Group I on the cause and environmental predictions of the greenhouse effect was released last month. According to government sources, the report found that many Asian areas, including Japan and eastern Russia, have already seen a decline in grain harvests, a phenomenon that will make it more difficult for developing countries to meet their growing demand for food.

In addition to rising temperatures caused by global warming, chronic flooding, heat waves and droughts are behind the falling harvests, the report says.

In the future, grain harvests will drop by between 2.5 percent and 10 percent in the 2020s, and 5 percent to 30 percent in the 2050s, compared with the amount harvested in 1990, the report says.

Even if the mercury rises by just 0.5 C in winter, the wheat harvest in India would be badly affected, the report says.

from the Daily Yomiuri (JP)