Global warming threatens sharp decline in wheat, other grain yields

The escalating climate crisis is poised to exacerbate global food shortages by intensifying crop losses due to pests, a new study published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment confirmed.

Researchers warn that a 2°C rise in global temperatures could increase pest-related damage to wheat by 46%, rice by 19%, and maize by 31%. Heat accelerates the reproduction of pests—including aphids, leafrollers, stem insects, caterpillars, and locusts—and is driving their migration into temperate regions such as Europe and the United States, as well as higher altitudes.

Shorter and milder winters are prolonging the period during which insects attack crops, compounding the problem. Presently, pests and plant diseases already destroy approximately 40% of the world’s harvest. The study further emphasizes that climate change directly reduces grain yields by 6–10% for every degree of warming.

By Vafa Guliyeva