Potential Effects of Differential Day-Night Warming in Global Climate Change on Crop Production

Recent studies on the nature of global warming indicate the likelihood of an asymmetric change in temperature, where night-time minimum temperature increases more rapidly than the day-time maximum temperature. We used a physically based scenario of asymmetric warming combined with climate change scenarios from General Circulation Models (GCMs) outputs and the EPIC (Erosion Productivity Impact Calculator) plant process model to examine the effects of asymmetric temperature change on crop productivity. Our results indicated that the potential effects of global change on crop productivity may be less severe with asymmetric day-night warming than with equal day-night warming.