Pollution Hurting Rice Harvest

Greenhouse gases are having a negative effect on Rice harvests. Countries like India are worried about possible rice shortages.

(BBC)The clouds interfere with the local climate by blocking the Sun's radiation from reaching the ground, leading to cooler and dimmer conditions. Recent research has revealed the polluted haze can also reduce rainfall.

Using climate models and historical data on Indian rice harvests, the team built up a picture of the brown clouds' effect on rice growth over the years.

"We found if there had been no atmospheric brown clouds between 1985 and 1998, the annual rice harvest yield would have been 11% higher than it was," said Maximilian Auffhammer of the University of California at Berkeley.

The team concluded the clouds had a negative effect on rice yields.

How much more evidence do some people need that greenhouse gases and global warming is real and not part of long cycle?