Climate change and global warming are currently hot topics in most countries around the world. Many governments are attempting to slow the trend towards higher global temperatures, and many are not. Whichever country you live in, chances are that global warming has already begun to affect you.

One interesting aspect of global warming is that for countries in the far northern hemisphere, warmer temperatures mean longer summers and thus more time for farming. One example of this ‘advantage’ is Norway, which may soon replace Denmark as Scandinavia’s top crop producer.

However, the warmer weather is not all good news for Scandinavia. Farmers in Finland will soon have to deal with new species of pests that threaten their crops and with winters that will become far more unpredictable than they are at present. This will mean more rain and increasingly unstable weather.

The new pests will also create a problem for environmentalists as farmers reach for more pesticides to keep their crops healthy. Researchers are, however, currently investigating how to tackle the new pests without automatically resorting to chemical pesticides.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has called on the US president to join him in help persuading the developing economies of China and India to become more environmentally friendly by reducing their carbon emissions.

At a recent joint press conference held between the Danish leader and President George W. Bush, Rasmussen said, “We need a comprehensive global agreement and American leadership is needed to reach that goal.”

Rasmussen told reporters at the President’s ranch in Crawford that, “the goal is to get the US, China and India to participate in the follow-up treaty to the Kyoto climate accord, which expires in 2012.”

In December 2009 Denmark will host the next international meeting on climate change. As a result, the Nordic country has become more outspoken on the topic, calling on Americans to reduce their emissions and battle climate change and global warming.

However, by the time of the December meeting, President Bush will no longer be in office, calling into question many of his statements on the issue.

President Bush also spoke to reporters on his meeting with the Danish leader. He said, “We talked about climate change, more than once, as I showed him my ranch and how we’re conservationists in Crawford.”