Rising temperatures to see wheat and barley yields drop 20%

Rising temperatures will see European yields of wheat and barley drop 20% by 2040, a report by Stanford University states.

The authors of the report, Frances Moore and Prof David Lobell, believe European farmers can slow the decline of some crops if they adapt their techniques. Farmers are advised to plan to switch to crops that perform better in higher temperatures, among other “adaptation” responses.

“By adaptation, we mean a range of options based on existing technologies, such as switching varieties of a crop, installing irrigation or growing a different crop, one better suited to warmer temperatures,” said Prof Lobell, the associate director of the Centre on Food Security and the Environment at Stanford University. “These things have been talked about for a long time, but the novelty of this study was using past data to quantify the actual potential of adaptation to reduce climate change impacts.”