Nuclear Science and Technology for Climate Change Adaptation

The IAEA helps countries to use nuclear science and technologies to monitor and measure the impact of climate change and adapt to its effects. This support is relevant in the context of improving agriculture, water management and the resilience of food production systems, among others.

Nuclear techniques are being applied in a wide variety of fields such as plant breeding, livestock production, insect pest control and soil and crop management. Nuclear applications are being used to assist countries to measure changes in ocean environments, including ocean acidification; to share scientific information on freshwater and its origins, age, movement and quality; and to research the effects of a warming Earth on the climate and global changes on ecosystems.

This film looks at examples of nuclear science and technologies being practically applied to improve farming in Zimbabwe, monitor limited water supplies in Costa Rica and breed crops in adverse climatic conditions.