The crops we produce around the World could alter significantly with climate change. The weather is a vital part in farming and changes in temperature and precipitation will be important in sustaining crop growth.

Temperature rises look likely to mean the crops we would normally see growing in the south of a  country will be able to be grown further north. The UN believe there will be a shift northwards of between 200 and 300 kilometres for every degree of warming. This would be similar to the south of England in 2060, having the kind of weather the Loire Valley, in France, experiences now.

However increased dryness in the summer could affect the quality and yields of the crop due to an increase in drought and heat waves.

The types of crops grown will have to change, which doesn't have to be a bad thing. Products which haven't been farmed over here before, such as sweetcorn, sunflowers, soya and maize for cereals, could all provide new business for farmers.

For land owners further north and west livestock farming could become more suitable to such climes.

However, if farming practices do change, procedures will have to be put in place beforehand as introducing something new to farmland involves a lot of preparation. Also, with increasing demands made on water (due to evaporation and less rainfall), irrigation systems may need to be implemented so rain from winter can be stored for the summer.

Agricultural pests

Researchers are already finding that pests, such as aphids, are starting to hatch earlier in the year. In the last 10-15 years they've been arriving in springtime and the population of aphids appears to be growing too.

Aphids are a real problem as they can cause so much damage to crops and if they're arriving earlier in the year they can get the produce when it's very fragile - causing more damage than they used to.