Global warming will seriously affect ecology and people's lives in Japan, reducing rice yields by 5 percent from current levels around 2050 in the western regions of Kinki and Shikoku, the Environment Ministry said Thursday. Damage from floods could swell by 1 trillion yen a year around 2030, the ministry said in a forecast conducted with 14 reseaGlobal warming will seriously affect ecology and people's lives in Japan, reducing rice yields by 5% from current levels around 2050 in the western regions of Kinki and Shikoku, the Environment Ministry said Thursday. Damage from floods could swell by 1 trillion yen a year around 2030, the ministry said in a forecast conducted with 14 research institutes in Japan. The joint study found that a rise in temperature of 2 C or higher could significantly expand the scale of disasters and reduce the size of rice harvests, though rice output would increase in the northern part of the country.