World food production varies by several percent from year to year, largely as a result of weather conditions such as the climatic variability between years. But agriculture in some regions is more sensitive than in others. Typically, sensitivity to weather is greatest firstly in developing countries, where the technology available to prevent droughts and floods is less advanced, and secondly in those regions where the main physical factors affecting production (soils, terrain and climate) are less suited to farming. A key task facing those concerned with conducting climate impact assessments is to identify those regions likely to be most vulnerable to climate change, so that impacts can be avoided (or at least reduced) through implementation of appropriate measures of adaptation.
Additional reading
Rosenzweig, C., A. Iglesias, X.B. Yang, E. Chivian, and P. Epstein. 2000. Climate Change and US Agriculture: The impacts or warming and extreme weather events on productivity, plant diseases, and pests. Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA.
http://www.med.harvard.edu/chge/resources.html
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Farmland landscape in North America.
Photo by USDA. NRCS
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