Researchers at Bristol University are working on breeding crops which they believe could reduce global temperature by a significant amount in the face of climate change; scientists predict climate change would see hotter, more erratic weather disrupting growing patterns in Europe.

Crops which could reflect the sun’s rays away from the earth are being developed in Bristol as one of several measures aimed at reducing global warming and thereby mitigating climate change. The scientists in Bristol are attempting to develop wheat with ‘shinier’ leaves to reflect sunlight; they believe this could reduce the impact of a rise in global temperatures. image expired

Professor Andy Ridgewell, who is leading the research in Bristol, is looking at different wheat varieties and examining the natural reflectivity of the leaves. He hopes this will allow him, through conventional breeding processes, to increase the reflective potential of wheat plants.

The crops are not visually discernable from one another; their reflective properties vary from one plant to another and one leaf to another. Professor Ridgewell explained there is "nothing science fiction-like" about his research, that the reflective properties were not visible to the eye.

The team from Bristol is currently in the preliminary stage of research, examining the variability of wheat plants currently on the market. Professor Ridgewell hopes to then identify and breed the reflective trait into wheat. He is examining whether the plants’ 'shininess' is due to properties within the wax on leaves, a thicker layer of leaf wax, or even leaf shape.

Though it may sound far-fetched, the research being conducted in Bristol could be of global importance. Professor Ridgewell estimates that 'shinier' wheat could reduce the global temperature by a degree if rolled out.

He elaborated, "Temperature change in climate change is always an odd thing to get your head around, because it may be 15 degrees warmer today than it was this morning when you got up. In terms of global climate change, where people talk about 3 degree warming in the future, it tends not to mean very much.

"Temperatures tend to be amplified in the summer, and in Europe, if the global rise is 3^o it would be much more like a 5^o rise in summer time temperature in Europe. If we can get a degree off that, it’s a fifth of the problem, so only four fifths to go."