(Photo by LilacDragonfly via Pexels)
By Stephen Beech via SWNS
The world is facing a timber crisis as climate change pushes cropland further north, warns a new study.
Global warming will move and reduce the land suitable for growing food and timber – putting the production of both vital resources into direct competition, say Cambridge University scientists.
If no action is taken to combat climate change a quarter of the world’s forestry land – equivalent to the size of India – will become more suitable for agriculture by the end of the century, according to the new report.
The Cambridge team points out that the once-rare sight of vineyards in Britain is becoming more common as hotter summers create increasingly suitable conditions for growing grapes.
But they say that behind that “success” story is a sobering one: climate change is shifting the regions of the world suitable for growing crops.
The team has uncovered a looming issue: as the land suitable for producing our food moves northwards, it will put a “squeeze” on the land we need to grow trees.
The timber those trees produce is the basis of much of modern life – from paper and cardboard to furniture and buildings.
The Cambridge team says that the increasing competition between land for timber and food production due to climate change has, until now, been overlooked – but it will be an emerging issue as demand for both continues to increase.
Under the worst-case scenario for climate change, where no action is taken to decarbonize society, the new study found that more a quarter of existing forestry land – around 320 million hectares, equivalent to the size of India – will become more suitable for agriculture by the end of the century.
