Sustainable agriculture and climate change

Abstract

Climate change, a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns for an extended period, is caused by natural factors such as variations in solar radiation, and human activities. Climate change is expected to affect the frequency, distribution, intensity, and location of extreme events, and thus will affect the sustainability of agriculture. In this regard, management and adaptation strategies to mitigate the climate change effects are direly needed to ensure stable yields in the world and food security. Sustainable agriculture provides a potential solution to enable agricultural systems to feed a growing population while successfully operating within the changing environmental conditions. International cooperation in research and actions is very important and may yield great benefits to cope with the climate change challenges. This chapter introduce the issues of climate change, describe its characteristics, discusses its impacts on sustainable agriculture and highlight the potential risks involved. Strategies for sustainable agriculture under climate change have also been proposed.