The Correlation of Food Production with Climate Change

Figure 1. Map of orchards in northwestern Romania.

In the last two decades, earth has significantly seen an increase in climate change at a much faster rate, than that of previous deceniums all together. However, as prevalent as this subject is, most individuals do not apply any thought into it until they realize the harm. In a study by Gitea and colleagues, orchards located in northwestern Romania with fruits such as apples, plums and almonds are studied to find the correlation of the fruit production with climate change (figure 1). These fruit plants were studied in the period of 2002 to 2016 to observe their pre-blooming, blooming and ripening stages. These plants were observed and measured, in their blooming period to determine the amount of fruits they would produce. Then, in the summer of every year, it was noted when each fruit plant would begin to ripen until maturation ended. All plants were treated in the same manner with the same soil and with phytosanitary treatments in their optimum growth period. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 19 and specific tests to determine the overall results. It was concluded that climate change affects the life cycle of these fruit plants. According to the results, the tree vegetation period started too early in the spring and the blooming periods of the plants were advanced by ten days which would ultimately slowly decrease the production of fruits over a period of time. 

Original article: Gitea, Manuel Alexandru, et al. “Orchard Management under the Effects of Climate Change: Implications for Apple, Plum, and Almond Growing.” Environmental Science and Pollution Research, vol. 26, no. 10, Sept. 2019, pp. 9908–9915., doi:10.1007/s11356-019-04214-1.