File(s) under permanent embargo
Influence of extreme weather disasters on global crop production
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 23:53 authored by Corey Lesk, Pedram RowhaniPedram Rowhani, Navin RamankuttyIn recent years, several extreme weather disasters have partially or completely damaged regional crop production. While detailed regional accounts of the effects of extreme weather disasters exist, the global scale effects of droughts, floods and extreme temperature on crop production are yet to be quantified. Here we estimate for the first time, to our knowledge, national cereal production losses across the globe resulting from reported extreme weather disasters during 1964–2007. We show that droughts and extreme heat significantly reduced national cereal production by 9–10%, whereas our analysis could not identify an effect from floods and extreme cold in the national data. Analysing the underlying processes, we find that production losses due to droughts were associated with a reduction in both harvested area and yields, whereas extreme heat mainly decreased cereal yields. Furthermore, the results highlight ~7% greater production damage from more recent droughts and 8–11% more damage in developed countries than in developing ones. Our findings may help to guide agricultural priorities in international disaster risk reduction and adaptation efforts.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
NatureISSN
0028-0836Publisher
Nature Publishing GroupExternal DOI
Issue
7584Volume
529Page range
84-87Department affiliated with
- Geography Publications
Research groups affiliated with
- Sussex Sustainability Research Programme Publications
Full text available
- No
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2016-01-07First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2016-01-07Usage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedKeywords
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC