According to a new article at the Guardian, corn-mageddon could be just around the corner in the United States because of anthropogenic climate change:
“The days of ‘king corn’ could be numbered as climate change brings higher temperatures and water shortages to America’s farmland, a new report warned on Wednesday…
The report amplifies warnings earlier this year from United Nations climate scientists and the National Climate Assessment that America’s agricultural industry — and specifically its corn crop — was at risk from the high temperatures and water shortages anticipated under climate change…
Corn uses the most water for irrigation of any crop, and accounts for half of all fertiliser use. Some of that corn is raised in areas experiencing water shortages because of over-use and recurring droughts, such as California’s Central Valley or the high plains states of Kansas and Nebraska…
Recent studies have found corn at high risk from the higher temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, and water shortages caused by climate change. Corn plants are especially sensitive to heatwaves and drought. A report in Science last month found that growers were having more trouble than initially expected in adapting to hotter and drier conditions.
The scientists said growers in the mid-west could lose as much as 15% of their yield within the next 50 years.”
There is a lot of alarmism here that needs to be countered.
Droughts in the U.S. corn belt are becoming far less common and severe at a rapid rate