Scientists warn of the effects of climate change on crops

Scientists have compiled a study highlighting the future problem areas for climate-induced food shortages.

The study, produced by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, found that these food shortage 'hotspots' are likely to affect regions that are already suffering from chronic food problems.

It identified highly vulnerably populations in Africa and South Asia, as well as China and Latin America to a lesser extent, where in less than half a century they are likely to experience shorter, hotter and drier growing seasons.

"These are areas highly exposed to climate shifts, where survival is strongly linked to the fate of regional crop and livestock yields, and where chronic food problems indicate that farmers are already struggling and they lack the capacity to adapt to new weather patterns," said Polly Ericksen, a senior scientist at the CGIAR's International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Nairobi, Kenya and the study's lead author.

She added that the climate change maps marked a highly troubling development, which could endanger the lives of hundreds of millions of people.