En-en adult card 32 decline agricultural yields

Card #32: Decline Agricultural Yields

Causes		Consequences
Temperature Rise Terrestrial Biodiversity River Flooding Droughts Freshwater Resources Marine Submersion Cyclones		Starvation Climate Refugees

Food production can be affected by temperature, droughts, extreme weather events, floods and marine submersion (e.g. the Nile Delta).

Explanation

This is one of the greatest threats to humanity. Declines in agricultural yields have already led to conflicts in Rwanda and Syria.

Facilitation advice

Local or global impacts

It may be interesting to differentiate between local and global causes. Local causes are:

• River Flooding
• Droughts
• Marine Submersion
• Cyclones
• Forest Fires

More global causes are:

• Disruption of the water cycle
• Temperature rise
• Terrestrial biodiversity
• Freshwater resources

Other possible links

Causes

Carbon sinks Studies have shown that yields increase with increased CO₂, but that the nutrient content of vegetables is reduced. Indeed, trace elements do not become more abundant when yields increase.