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Climate change cuts global crop yields, even when farmers adapt

An assistant professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois says a new study shows the global food system faces growing risks from climate change, even as farmers seek to adapt.

Andrew Hultgren, lead study author, tells Brownfield, “Adaptation is really important.”  He says, “It mitigates about 34% of losses from climate change by the end of the century, but losses still persist.  In a high warming future, we’re looking at about a 24% loss in yields overall.”

He says farmer adaptations could include switching crops or relying on irrigation.

“It really highlights where innovation can step in and try to make our crops more resilient to extreme heat, more resilient to drought, more able to cope with future climatic conditions,” he says.

Hultgren says the study also shows some regions, like Canada and Russia, would benefit from a warming climate, while others would suffer.

“In a high warming future, would the U.S. Corn Belt even sort of remain the U.S. Corn Belt?”  He says, “It’s not clear that it would be.”

Hultgren says every additional degree Celsius of global warming on average will drag down the world’s ability to produce food by 120 calories per person per day thus hampering global food supplies.

Dozens of scholars from universities across the country spent over eight years on the study, which was published in the journal, Nature, this week.

AUDIO:  Andrew Hultgren – University of Illinois