Staple crops yields face ‘substantial losses’ in warming world – even with adaptation

Average global yields of six staple crops could fall by more than 11% under a moderate warming scenario by the end of the century – even when accounting for how farmers could adapt to climate change, new research finds.

The study, published in [Nature](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09085-w), examines changes in yields for cassava, maize, rice, sorghum, soya bean and wheat under two different warming scenarios. 

But, unlike previous studies, it also factors in adaptive measures that farmers may employ to adjust to the changing climate. 

It finds that implementing adaptation could reduce total yield losses by around 12% by the end of the century – although the world would still face “substantial losses”, it says.

The study also finds that the world’s “breadbaskets” – such as the US and Europe – will have less adaptive capacity than poorer regions, as their farming industries have been optimised for high yields, rather than resilience.

One researcher, who was not involved in the new study, tells Carbon Brief that these types of studies “are essential steps” towards better understanding adaptation in agriculture.

When will the billionaire overlords realise that if the worst happens and the people start to decrease they’ll have fewer left to buy their exorbitant goods and services and their pointless quest for more money will be for naught?