International Business Times reports on a chapter in a forthcoming FAO book that offers a comprehensive study on how rising temperatures, drought, declining rainfall and other effects could hurt some of the zones where bananas are grown.
The authors looked at 24 banana-growing areas in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Some of their simulations bode well for bananas. For example, most regions are predicted to have highly favourable growing conditions in the second half of the century. In some places, warmer temperatures might make new areas suitable for growing bananas.
Some tropical areas, however, are likely to see monthly rainfall decline by 2050. Moreover, if global warming surpasses 3 degrees Celsius, as it’s projected to do by 2100, more tropical areas may be lost for banana production due to excessively high temperatures.
International Business Times also reports on how climate change is already affecting banana production in Central America.