U.S. corn growers farming in hell

This is what climate change looks like.

US corn yields seriously threatened as soils dry and temperature climbs

 A preview of climate impacts to come.

For the second year in a row, farmers and agriculture analysts are watching temperatures rise during peak pollination time for the U.S. corn crop. Corn pollen is sensitive to high temperatures, and heat waves during pollination time will lower yields, as happened last year.

Now the heat wave in the Midwest is coupled with record low levels of soil moisture, leading to added stress on pollination and added anxiety all around

A bitter cup of tea

Tea production fell in 2011 in both Kenya and Uganda, compared with 2010. While two data points do not indicate a trend, crop and climate scientists anticipate drastic reductions in tea production in these two countries in the coming decades. Last year the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (its acronym CIAT derives from the Spanish version of its name) released two important studies: Future climate scenarios for Uganda's tea growing areas and Future climate scenarios for Kenya's tea growing areas, both predicting significant falls in production and export earnings from the crop in these two countries.

Kenya's tea producing zone will shift 500m up in elevation by 2050; lower elevation production areas will see severe drops in suitability for production. A shift in elevation will put forests and protected areas at risk of conversion and will leave many producers in lower elevations in need of new sources of livelihoods.

Impacts are predicted to be even more severe in Uganda: "The report reveals that tea will become increasingly less suited to conditions in Uganda, posing a serious threat to the livelihoods of Uganda’s many smallholder producers and their families."

Fears of British super-drought after record low rainfall this winter

Mexico's drought reduces agricultural production by 40%

Drought may cause shutdown of Texas rice production

I wonder how long it will take for US leadership -- both political and agricultural -- to wake up to the real threat climate change poses to agricultural production here, and hence to one of the only sectors that provides significant export earnings.