Expansion, environmental impacts of irrigation by 2050 greatly underestimated
Monday, May 4, 2020 - 15:10
in Earth & Climate
New research suggests that the amount of farmland that will need to be irrigated to feed the global population by 2050 could be up to several billion acres, far higher than scientists currently project. The result would be a far greater strain on aquifers, an increased expansion of agriculture into natural ecosystems, and an amplification of climate change through the production and operation of irrigation machinery.