British crops to face water supply crunch, may relocate
By Nigel Hunt; editing by James Jukwey
Mon Oct 18, 2010 4:04pm EDT LONDON (Reuters) – Agricultural crops in Britain may need to be moved to new areas as the threat of both drought and flooding rises in the coming decades, a report [pdf] commissioned by the Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) said on Monday. The report said climate change was expected to produce higher temperatures, drier summers and wetter winters across much of England. “This is likely to mean reduced river flow and less water available for agriculture,” said one of the report’s authors, Alison Bailey, of the University of Reading’s School of Agriculture, Policy and Development. The report also said there was a clear risk from more frequent extremes of drought and flooding. “Plant breeders will need to incorporate drought resistance and waterlogging tolerance into new varieties … planners must be flexible in allowing farms to build reservoirs so that they can conserve winter rainfall for summer irrigation,” Ian Smith, Agri-Science Director of RASE said in a statement. The report said crops that need irrigation, such as sugar beet and vegetables, may be forced to shift from the drier east of England to the wetter west of the country. River flow was seen reducing by about 20 percent by 2020 and 40 percent by the 2050s. …
It's perhaps a nit-pick, but it's very sloppy to talk about the UK in the headline, and only show England and Wales on the maps. Imagine the reaction if you were to run an article about North America and only show a Canadian map.
Right you are! Changed to 'British'.