Climate change and its effects on rice production in Southeastern Mainland Asia

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Mitchell T Noworolnik and Sarah Daniels

Grand Valley State University, USA

: Expert Opin Environ Biol

Abstract

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Southeastern Mainland Asia is home to a climate consisting of high, uniform temperatures, and a high amount of rainfall. This climate is what allows Southeastern Asia to produce most of the World’s rice resources. Rice in Asia is not only depended on as a main export of the region, but as a staple crop throughout the 6 countries of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and in the western half of Malaysia. What will be the potential complications that global climate change will have on this historically important grain in their agriculture? What kind of adaptations in agriculture are the people of this region implementing to help their present and future populations be food secure? Observations over the past decades of research have shown that an increase in the temperature of this region has already caused more sporadic rainfall events and longer periods of drought. This new threat has the potential to increase the number of natural disasters in both frequency and ferocity in Southeastern Asia and those who call this area as home are feeling an escalating anxiety. Collective data into this topic shows that if changes to the climate keep occurring, further calamities will threaten the stability of the economically thriving rice industry and hinder those most vulnerable to its effects from generating income and lifting them out of poverty stricken areas. Using the latest research and climate modeling systems from those on the front line of this issue, we will see the potential impacts of climate change on this region’s main source of wealth and how these countries are adapting to future expectations of the climate.

Biography

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Mitchell Noworolnik is in the completion of a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography with an emphasis in sustainable urban and regional planning, a minor in environmental studies, and a certificate in GIS technology from Grand Valley State University in the United States. His plan is to pursue a Masters’ course in Urban and Regional Planning. His areas of interest include sustainable mobility, human well-being, and promoting the greening of landscapes in cities as a way to counter-act climate change.