Soaring Heat Kills Crops As Scientists Look For Way Out
Drought, heat, and flooding are enemies of agriculture, particularly as climate change worsens the problems for each. The need for seeds modified to survive and grow under challenging conditions has begun to gain popularity, even as concerns grow about their potential long-term harm.
Seed modification has been around for years, but climate change has recently sparked increased interest.
According to The New York Times, “Farmers can help crops beat the heat with water-based cooling, but that method has limitations. Modifying crops, either through traditional crossbreeding, artificially sped-up mutation or direct genetic editing, offers control over how plants respond to heat.”
The solution may be “gene editing.” The goal is to take the climate advantages of one crop and “merge” them with a crop that is used to feed humans or animals.
Fear Of Illness
People believe, right or wrong, that some of these seeds can cause cancer, trigger allergies, encourage herbicide use, and kill some species that come into contact with them. This includes bees.
“Moreover, poor science communication by seed companies, a significant lack of safety studies and current mistrust regarding GMOs have only compounded problems,” according to the National Library of Medicine.
The problem boils down to whether some people in climate-challenged areas of the world will take what appear to be, at most, modest risks.
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