Crop responses to rising atmospheric [CO2] and global climate change

Authors: LEMONNIER, PAULINE - Orise Fellow; Ainsworth, Elizabeth - Lisa

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/16/2016
Publication Date: 2/1/2019
Citation: Lemonnier, P., Ainsworth, E.A. 2019. Crop responses to rising atmospheric [CO2] and global climate change. In: Yadav,S., Redden, R., Hatfield, J., Ebert, A., Hunter, D., editors. Food Security and Climate Change. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons. p. 51-69.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) present in the atmosphere are the drivers of global warming, which then results in altered precipitation patterns in some regions of the world and sea level rise. Although some countries contribute more than others to the total amount of CO2 emissions, this gas is well-mixed in the atmosphere resulting in a global and uniform increase across the world. On the contrary, other aspects of the global change (temperature, precipitation, air pollution) are more variable spatially, temporally and in magnitude. Crops will undoubtedly be growing at increasing CO2 concentrations over this century, and at higher temperatures and under more variable and extreme precipitation patterns. It is against this backdrop of global change that we consider food crop responses to rising CO2 in this chapter. We describe how crop responses to rising CO2 are experimentally tested, the fundamental, physiological responses of crops to rising CO2, and then examine how crop productivity and crop quality are impacted by rising CO2, rising temperatures and increasing moisture stress. Finally, we discuss different strategies to improve crop production in a high CO2 world.