Rapid global heating is hurting farm productivity, study finds

[chocolatpi]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/rapid-global-heating-is-hurting-farm-productivity-study-finds/ar-BB1fd7X4

The Guardian

Rapid global heating is hurting farm productivity, study finds

Oliver Milman
4/1/21

The climate crisis is already eating into the output of the world’s agricultural systems, with productivity much lower than it would have been if humans hadn’t rapidly heated the planet, new research has found.
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While farming has generally become far more efficient in recent decades, it is increasingly menaced by heatwaves that exhaust farm workers and wither certain crops. Extreme weather events and drought can also affect the output of a farm, particularly smaller operations in poorer countries.

In 2019, scientists who analyzed the top 10 global crops that provide the majority of our food calories found that climate change is reducing the worldwide production of staples such as rice and wheat. Again, less affluent countries are suffering worst from this situation.

The intensification of farming to boost output has in itself caused major environmental damage, through the deforestation of grazing land, loss of valuable topsoil, pollution from pesticides and the release of vast amounts of greenhouse gases that contribute to global heating.
….snip

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