Graduate School of Environmental Studies Professor Soo-jong’s Team, The Relationship between Tea Production and Temperature Change
[베리타스 알파=유재명 기자] Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Environmental Studies Professor Soo-Jong (corresponding author) research team and a joint research team consisting of Peking University in China, SUSTech, and Colorado State University in the U.S. use high-resolution historical car production data and meteorological data collected over a long period of time at the level of local administrative districts in China. The relationship between change (high temperature, low temperature) and tea production was revealed for the first time. In addition, the research team used the RCP representative path scenario data of 21 global climate models to determine the impact of future car production in China due to extreme high and low temperatures in the global warming of 1.5 degrees and 2 degrees due to the increase in greenhouse gases. Predicted quantitatively. The results were published online in March 2021 in the international journal Environmental Research Letters.
Climate change and warming have caused significant losses to the yields of major crops worldwide, such as wheat, rice and corn. Studies have shown that not only these major crops but also popular beverages such as wine, coffee, and beer are threatened by climate change. However, the second most consumed tea among the world’s beverages, compared to beverages such as coffee and beer, few studies have been conducted to evaluate the effect of production due to climate change. This study is the first study case to examine the relationship between historical tea production data and temperature change in China, which accounts for the world’s largest tea production.
The research team quantified the relationship of tea production in China due to extreme temperature changes through tea production data from 1990 to 2016, and proved that tea production in China is vulnerable to extreme high and low temperatures. It can be seen that in the current climate, tea production in China is more affected by low temperatures than extreme high temperatures. The decrease in tea production due to extreme low temperatures showed significant regional differences, and in the Shandong region, tea production decreased by up to 56.3%. When applying the 1.5-degree and 2nd-degree global warming scenarios, it was found that areas that are currently suffering damage to car production due to extreme low temperatures in China are reduced by warming.
In northern China (above 28 degrees north latitude), it has been found that climate change has made tea production more suitable, which has been confirmed to increase the number of areas where tea can be grown. However, unlike the current climate, which suffers damage from tea production due to extremely low temperatures, in the near future, it is predicted that in the near future, tea production will decrease by 14-26% due to high temperatures due to climate change in some areas of Guangdong Province, Guangxi Province, and Yangtze River.
Professor Soo-jong, head of international joint research, said, “The climate change caused by the increase in greenhouse gas has a great effect on the future car production because it is accompanied by extreme changes in the number of days at high and low temperatures beyond just warming. Therefore, it is predicted now through carbon neutrality. “If we can’t stop climate change, it could affect the prices of drinks such as green tea and black tea that we enjoy at low prices,” he predicted.
Copyright © Veritas Alpha Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited