According to a disturbing report in Gizmodo today, “A new study published in Nature Plants demonstrates the surprisingly damaging effects of a 1930s-type drought on current US crops, and the impacts of global warming on agriculture in the years to come. Researchers Michael Glotter and Joshua Elliot from the University of Chicago ran computer simulations to predict the effects of a Dust Bowl-like drought on today’s maize, soy, and wheat crops.”
In the study, the researchers showed that irrigation had less protective ability than expected in helping protect crop yields because modern crops are optimized to produce yields in average climate conditions, and don’t always respond well to extreme climate events like severe droughts. Expected increases in temperature due to warming climate also decreases yield by 25% for each 1 degree increase in temperature. You can read the full article here.
