Global warming to cripple Southeast Asia economically
Jeremy Hancemongabay.com
April 28, 2009
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Rice yields, the agricultural staple of Southeast Asia, will be hit particularly hard with the region suffering a 50 percent decline in rice yields by 2100. The Philippines would see the worst decline with a 75 percent loss in its rice fields.
 Slash-and-burn agriculture in Indonesia. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. |
Assistant chief economist at ADB, Juzhong Zhuang told Reuters that these nations “need regional-level activity and it is needed now. If the action is delayed then south-east Asia will suffer much more than most other regions of the world. What's needed is better government policy, better co-ordination between agencies and between central and local government, and better research by all countries."
Most of Southeast Asia’s carbon emissions are due to deforestation instead of the burning of fossil fuels. Eighty percent of Indonesia’s emissions, for example, are due to deforestation and conversion of peat lands, largely for palm oil plantations. Worldwide deforestation accounts for nearly 20 percent of emissions.
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