Current scenario of climate change and its impact on plant diseases

Abstract

The change in global climate is because of expanding convergence of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the environment. Climate changes observed on Earth in recent years are mostly the result of various human activities. The global temperature has risen by around 0.8 °C over the past hundred years and is expected to ascend by between 0.9 and 3.5 °C by 2100. Climate change does not only affect the holistic crop growth but also influence the spread, multiplication, incidence and severity of many phytopathogenic agents. These effects will be seen not only on the other elements of the agroecosystem but also on plants and other organisms. Climate change involving rise in temperature and CO2 level in the atmosphere, and other weather events such as drought and flooding, all affects the host plant resistance to pathogens. Climate change has the potential to alter host-pathogen interactions and ultimately pose great impact on development of disease epidemics. However, determining these effects is difficult, so experts from various fields must look beyond their own disciplinary boundaries and put the effects of climate change in a larger context. Various plant disease models have been created to integrate modern climate forecasts at different levels. According to climate change scenario, there is great need to modify the methods of disease management in terms of their geographic and temporal distribution. This review uses appropriate examples to demonstrate the many implications that climate change has on plant diseases and their repercussions.