Study Finds Climate Change May Dramatically Reduce Wheat Production

Recent research at Kansas State University finds that in the coming decades at least 25% of the world's wheat production will be lost to extreme weather from climate change, if no adaptive measures are taken. Based on the 2012-2013 global wheat harvest of 701 million tons, the resulting temperature increase could result in 42 million tons less produced wheat. Crop ecophysiologists currently project a 6% decline in wheat production for each degree Celsius the temperature rises.

Researchers found that the effects from climate change and its increasing temperatures on wheat will be more severe than once projected and are happening sooner than expected. Increases in the average temperature are problematic, but a bigger challenge is the extreme temperatures that are resulting from climate change. Extreme temperature is not just heat; it’s also cold. Only looking at the average temperature doesn't really show anything because it's the extreme highs and lows that are more detrimental to crops. Plants can handle gradual changes, because they have time to respond, but an extreme heat wave or cold snap can kill a plant because the adjustment period is too short. Research also found that increasing temperatures are shortening the growing season, resulting in less grain produced from each plant.

Climate change, and the ensuing extreme weather, are challenging because the world will have to at least double its food supply in the next 30 years if 9.6 billion people are going to be fed.

Read the Kansas State University article HERE.