I want to share a fact that should blow us all away: According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), global pesticide use has just about doubled since 1990.
This is already quite worrying—but I’m even more concerned by the question of where we’re headed from here.
Amid a warming global climate, some pest problems are getting worse, not better. In hotter conditions, pests can reproduce faster, sometimes adding a generation or more per growing season, which can make them more virulent and damaging. A team of international biology researchers projected that, under 2ºC of warming, increased pest damage could drive additional yield losses of 46 percent for wheat, 19 percent for rice, and 31 percent for maize.
I want to share a fact that should blow us all away: According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), global pesticide use has just about doubled since 1990.
This is already quite worrying—but I’m even more concerned by the question of where we’re headed from here.
Amid a warming global climate, some pest problems are getting worse, not better. In hotter conditions, pests can reproduce faster, sometimes adding a generation or more per growing season, which can make them more virulent and damaging. A team of international biology researchers projected that, under 2ºC of warming, increased pest damage could drive additional yield losses of 46 percent for wheat, 19 percent for rice, and 31 percent for maize.
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