Global warming endangers US corn production

Global warming could reduce US corn production by three percent in the Midwest and the South, compared to projected yields without further global warming, according to an environmental study released Thursday (Apr 9).

Iowa would be hit the hardest, losing US$259 million a year in corn revenues, followed by Illinois at US$243 million.

Corn grows better in cooler climate, but global warming is raising temperatures across the country, said the report's author Timothy Telleen-Lawton.

Hotter fields will mean lower corn yields, and eventually, the rest of agriculture, Telleen-Lawton said.

The study is a direct challenge to other reports that project moderate warming would increase crop yields.

Princeton University physicist William Happer claimed that crop yields would continue to increase as carbon dioxide levels go up, particularly since optimum levels for plant growth have not been achieved.

But the study said damaging effects from warming would far outweigh a carbon-fueled yield boost.

While global warming will make growing seasons longer and increase carbon dioxide levels to encourage plant growth, it will also increase temperatures and create more damaging storms, spread pests, weeds and diseases, the report said.