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We’re already feeling the effects of climate change.

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Intense heat waves, longer fire seasons, droughts and floods –

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the impacts of a warmer planet are all around us. And as global

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global temperatures continue to rise, we’ll experience even more changes to our planet.

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New NASA research suggests that, with high greenhouse gas emissions,

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we’ll see declines in global crop yields for maize, corn,

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as early as 2030.

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Shifting rainfall patterns, higher temperatures, and increased atmospheric carbon levels

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levels are likely to affect where, and how much of, staple crops like corn,

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soybeans, wheat, and rice can be grown.

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Using multiple highly accurate supercomputer models, researchers projected future global conditions based on

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greenhouse gas emissions. They ran those results through models that simulate how crops

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respond to changes in things like rainfall, temperatures, and atmospheric carbon dioxide.

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By using multiple computer models, the teams could compare

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results and be more confident in what they learned.

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Overall, corn and wheat showed the clearest results.

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By 2069-2099, global corn crop yields could decrease 24%.

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Corn is grown around the world, with large quantities grown in countries close to the equator.

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Rising temperatures in this region will put stress on those plants,

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leading to lower crop yields.

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Wheat, on the other hand, grows mostly in more temperate regions, like the Northern U.S and Canada,

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North China Plains, Central Asia, Southern Australia, Europe, and Russia.

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Warmer global temperatures and higher atmospheric carbon dioxide

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could increase wheat crop yields up to 17%.

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However, these increases will likely level off by 2050 or so.

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Changes to our global agriculture are likely to happen relatively soon,

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even in scenarios where we significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions.

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The more we understand about how our global food systems

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will change in a warmer climate, the better prepared we can be.

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NASA