New research suggests wheat crops may be threatened by unprecedented heat and drought
A recent study led by a researcher at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University has found that the likelihood of extreme temperatures that could affect crop yields has increased significantly in wheat-producing regions of the U.S. and China.
Highlights
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The findings predict heat waves that happened approximately once every hundred years in 1981 are now likely to happen once every six years in the Midwestern U.S. and once every 16 years in Northeastern China
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"The historical record is no longer a good representation of what we can expect for the future,"
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The researchers also identified regional and global atmospheric circulation patterns that could lead to severely hot and dry events, including a possible worst-case scenario where wheat production in both the U.S. and China is hit hard in the same season.
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"I think, with climate change, we're suffering from a failure of imagination. If we're not imagining the kinds of extremes that could happen, then we won't prepare for them"