Climate change cuts crop yields, even with adaptation efforts: Study
The Hill covers a new Climate Impact Lab study on agriculture losses due to global warming.
The Hill
/
June 18, 2025
By Sharon Udasin
Climate-induced warming is jeopardizing the global food supply even as farmers take adaptive measures to stymie these effects, scientists are warning.
In contrast with previous research suggesting warming actually could bolster food production, a new study, published in Nature on Wednesday, finds the opposite.
For every additional degree Celsius the planet warms, its ability to produce food could decrease by 120 calories per person per day, or 4.4 percent of the current daily consumption, according to the study.
“If the climate warms by 3 degrees, that’s basically like everyone on the planet giving up breakfast,” said senior author Solomon Hsiang, a professor of environmental social sciences at Stanford University, in a statement.
Another serious side effect, Hsiang warned, could be price surges that infringe upon access to food for families across the world.
U.S. agriculture is expected to suffer significant losses, particularly in the Midwest, the researchers noted.
Lead author Andrew Hultgren, an assistant professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, warned that U.S. corn and soybean production could “just get hammered under a high warming future.”
