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Episode 386

The climate crisis is having a significant impact on yields of crucial food crops. Losses of maize, wheat and soybeans alone are costing $20 billion a year due to heat and drought. New estimates expect this to rise to $160 billion per year by 2100 - although that could be an underestimate.

While this means food prices will keep on rising in developed countries, the majority of the population in the world’s least developed regions work in farming, so crop losses have the potential to destabilise them, creating social unrest and increased migration.

But beyond getting emissions under control, do we need to completely rethink how we produce food globally in order to combat this?

Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet are joined by Michael Le Page to discuss this new prediction and the action needed to stop it coming true.

To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/

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