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Highlights:
- A recent study published in Nature Food has shown that global warming in the Indian Ocean has given rise to a drier climate in Australia.
- A dry climate is not suitable for wheat production. As a result, wheat production has fallen in Australia.
- If global warming continues to take place at a similar rate, wheat producers are likely to experience more challenges in wheat cultivation.
As per a latest study published in Nature Food, global warming in the Indian Ocean has resulted in a change in climatic patterns in Australia. Of late, Australia began to experience drier climatic conditions leading to a significant fall in the country’s wheat production level over the last three decades.
Australia is one of the leading exporters of wheat in the world. Australian wheat accounts for over 10% of global trade.
As a result, both Australian and Chinese scientists have sent an alert message saying that wheat production will become more challenging in future if global warming continues at this rate.
The study also analysed different climatic phenomena that have impacted Australia’s rainfall pattern since the late 1800s and used several models to study how it has impacted wheat production in the country.
These models aim to analyse factors such as crop management, sowing time or the varieties planted in order to understand how wheat production is impacted in Australia.
The study has found that the change in the climatic pattern due to global warming is known as the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). If IOD is in a positive phase, there won’t be enough rainfall to produce wheat.
Lately, the number of positive IOD events has been remarkably rising since the past few decades resulting in lower rainfall and agricultural yields, said the study.
A normal weather condition suitable for wheat cultivation can produce up to 2.5 tonnes of wheat per hectare in a year. However, a dry climate driven by positive IOD events could bring down wheat cultivation to 1.5 tonnes per hectare.
The study also revealed that Australia, on the contrary, is getting affected by the negative IOD phase that is causing heavy downpours across the southern and eastern parts of the continent.
This study has found that more IOD events have been taking place in Australia recently, which had a stronger impact on wheat cultivation than other climatic phenomena such as El Nino or La Nina.
This study concludes by saying that there might be more such positive IOD cases taking place in Australia, causing more droughts and dry climate if greenhouse emission rises in the atmosphere.
