This shows that crop yields in 10 countries, including India, the world's largest banana producer and consumer, and Brazil, the fourth largest banana producer, are expected to drop sharply.
After studying banana production in 27 countries, the University of Exeter found that global warming has pushed up banana production since the 1960s, and this trend may be reversed in the next few decades. However, the continuous increase in temperature may lead to the opposite result, that is, bananas may disappear completely in 2050.
Researchers say that one of the most serious threats to bananas at present is Panama disease. The disease is caused by Fusarium, a fungus in the soil, which will invade the whole banana plantation and develop resistance to chemical treatment, which may harm healthy plants.
Banana producing areas in the world are widely distributed, mainly in tropical and subtropical areas between 20 degrees north and south latitude. In 20 17, the global banana planting area was 5.638 million hectares, and in 20 18, the banana planting area was about 5.654 million hectares.
In 20 18, the global banana output was1.1.500 million tons. Latin America is the main banana producing area in the world. The annual banana production accounts for more than 65,438+0/4 of the global banana production, and banana exports account for about 3/4 of the global banana production.
Some experts hold different opinions.
Regarding the view that climate warming will lead to banana production reduction, the well-known science blogger @ 中中中中 said that climate warming is beneficial to bananas for the time being. Although the output of individual countries has declined, the global total output has continued to rise until 2050. The optimal growth temperature of bananas is around 27℃, which varies from country to country.
@ Science Futurist says the media craze is an alarmist interpretation. The original paper said that in the past 60 years, global banana production has increased due to climate warming, with an annual increase of 1.37 tons/ha, and the current total output is 10-40 tons/ha; But if it is too late, the continuous warming of the climate will affect the "increase". It is estimated that the annual banana output will only increase by 0. 19-0.59 tons/hectare by 2050.
However, banana is a tropical plant, and its cultivation is greatly limited by climatic conditions. Their growth will be inhibited if they are placed in an environment above 38℃ for a long time. In other words, although global warming will not make bananas extinct, if global warming continues, their output will undoubtedly be affected to some extent.