Crops face extinction in global warming

Australia faces an ever-shrinking water supply, the extinction of plant and animal species and the loss of billions of dollars from a less productive agriculture sector, says a submission to an international global warming conference.

A joint presentation by the Australian Greenhouse Office, the Bureau of Meteorology and the CSIRO said the 2002-03 drought cost Australia 1.6 per cent of its gross domestic product – about $10 billion – and about 70,000 jobs.