Droughts hit cereal crops harder since 1980s, study shows

Droughts hit cereal crops harder since 1980s, study shows. Drought and extreme heat events in Europe slashed cereal harvests in recent decades by up to 20 per cent according to new research by the University of Sussex and Canadian academics. At a time when global warming is projected to produce more extreme weather yields and production around the world. Sussex geographer Dr Pedram Rowhani , together with colleagues at McGill University and the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada, analysed national production data from the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization for 16 cereals in 177 countries. They also examined 2,800 international weather disasters from 1964 to 2007. They found that, from 1985 to 2007, droughts caused cereal production losses averaging 13.7%, up from 6.7% for the period from 1964 to 1984. Production levels in the more technically advanced agricultural systems of North America, Europe and Australasia dropped by an average of 19.9% because of droughts - roughly double the global average.