As climate change intensifies, extreme weather is becoming a major threat to global food security. Yet we still lack a good understanding of how these extremes will be distributed across the world’s agricultural lands—particularly across small versus large croplands and pasturelands. In this study, we assess their exposure to extreme weather in a warming world. In a world that is 2 °C warmer than today, 25% (11 million km2) of present-day agricultural lands will face over two months of extreme heat, up from 16% today (7 million km2), and another ∼2% (5 million km2) will be exposed to a combination of two or more extremes, up from 10% (4 million km2). The total area exposed to prolonged dry conditions and extreme precipitation will remain unchanged (less than 1% or 5 million km2, with increases in some regions balanced by decreases elsewhere), while ∼2% less area (2 million km2), down from 7% (3 million km2), will experience a month of frost. Future exposure to extreme weather varies by land use type. Pasturelands will experience prolonged exposure to heat stress, whereas croplands will be exposed to higher excessive rains and heat stress combined. Spatial correlations between farm size and geography indicate potential differences in exposure. Exposure to extreme precipitation and heat stress is highest in small (1–2 ha) and medium (2–4 ha) cropland and pastureland, respectively. These findings offer a preliminary global assessment of how exposure to extreme weather varies by farm size and land use, underscoring the need for tailored adaptation strategies to safeguard food security in a warming world.

Read original article

Read original article