This book summarizes state-of-the-art knowledge on the potential impacts of climate change on agriculture. The book begins by introducing the nonspecialist to the causes of climate change, and reviews the main climate change drivers and impacts. It then goes on to review all major aspects of climate change impact on agriculture in detail. The scope is very broad indeed–the authors consider agricultural greenhouse gas emissions; the effects of raised CO{sub 2} and climate change on crop yield (discussing in some detail the effects on vegetation); possible impacts on pests, weeds, and diseases; impacts on soils; and the effects on water resources and sea level rise. The final four chapters expand the science described in earlier chapters to the global level, providing an analysis of impacts of climate change, then examining in detail the regions at greatest risk from climate change and possible implications for future food security, and finishing with a chapter on adaptation, economics, and policy.
