Global Warming (Photo : Reuters)
Scientists have developed "heat-beating" beans as an answer to starvation due to global warming and climate change.
Researchers from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Colombia managed to successfully breed 30 beans that can be grown even in the rising temperatures today.
Beans have been a crucial source of food for the 400 million starving people in developing nations and countries.
Due to global warming, the areas that are suitable for growing beans can drop by as much as 50 percent by 2050. This would result to the starvation of tens of millions of people.
Senior Bean Researcher Steve Beebe told Reuters that small-scale farmers across the globe are having a hard time growing food crops.
"Climate change will force many to go hungry, or throw in the towel, sell their land and move into urban slums if they don't get support," said Beebe.
Fortunately, scientists have bred new varieties of beans that are able to resist higher temperatures, making them resilient even in droughts.
Beebe said that they had to cross different species of beans such as kidney beans, tepary bean, into pinto and black beans to come up with the heat-resistant ones.
These new beans will be able to withstand the 3°C (5.4°F) estimated rise in temperature within the next century, according to Quartz.
Beebe and his team tried to grow the new cross-bred beans on the humid coast of Caribbean in Colombia. Some beans were even able to withstand additional 4°C and above temperatures. The bean production can also be expanded to new areas in East Africa and Central America.
The researchers said that certain areas will be most affected by global warming, including Uganda, Brazil, Haiti and Kenya among others.
