Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Kentuckitoba? Kanskatchewan? Iowalberta?

What'll we call it when the breadbasket of the world moves a few hundred kilometers North?
The global network of agricultural research centres warns that famines lie ahead unless new crop strains adapted to a warmer future are developed.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) says yields of existing varieties will fall.

New forecasts say warming will shrink South Asia's wheat area by half.
The money shot is this here map:


(Least Exciting Money Shot Ever.)

Notice that Alaska will be fertile ground. Also notice that the westernmost part of the projected area also coincides with the Athabasca Basin, also known as Tar Sands land. The same tar sands that are currently sucking up every drop of ground water available. Hm... farmers need water too, don't they?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Besides being viable for agriculture, won't that land all just become generally more hospitable and easier to extract resources from year-round? I think the US will pretty much just have to invade to secure those resources for the good of our future way of life.

Anonymous said...

Ah, the majestic wheat fields of Ely, Hayward, and Ontonagon!

Declan said...

I for one, will not try growing wheat on the Canadian shield, no matter how warm it gets.