As our climate changes and begins to warm, there will be many changes that occur to crops. Crops such as grains grow faster in warmer weather. While this may seem beneficial, it actually isn't. When crops grow faster they have less time for seeds to grow and mature. This actually reduces crop yields. In regards to various popular fruits, global warming definitely has an impact on that as well. Many people don't realize this, but fruit plants/trees need a certain amount of chilling hours to produce fruit. With the warming of the planet, those chilling hours are being reduced. Therefore, less fruit is being yielded. Also, when we have more warm weather for a longer amount of time, the life cycle of various types of insects is increased. This means that more pesticides must be used on fruit plants to keep the bugs off of them. More pesticides means the nutritional integrity of the plant may be altered. Increase pesticides also means more money that the farmer must pay for these poisons. That price is passed on to the consumer.
Overall, the political and economic effects of the changing geography of global agriculture are huge.
As our crops change, so must our resources. Economically, we rely on South Carolina for a lot of our peaches here in the United States. But as their yields change, so must where we import peaches from. This raises the price of the fruit. Looking at this from a political stand point, importing and exporting will change in the way of agriculture. This could be a good or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. Perhaps increased importing and exporting will strengthen international relationships with various countries. That would be a positive aspect. Negatively, it is frightening to have to rely on another country for certain types of produce. The effects to produce and agriculture are numerous when it comes to the warming of our planet. This is why it is important to be sure we are doing all we can to keep our planet from getting warmer and at the same time continue to research ways to deal with this warming trend.
http://www.clemson.edu/public/impacts/08spring/food/helping_fruit_trees_cope_with_global_warming.html
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/impacts-adaptation/agriculture.html
