Europe’s heat and drought crop losses tripled in 50 years

PARIS: The severity of crop losses driven by heat waves and drought have tripled in the last fifty years in Europe, according to a study that highlights the vulnerability of food systems to climate change.

Research published recently in the journal Environmental Research Letters, looked at agricultural production in 28 European countries — the current European Union and United Kingdom — from 1961 to 2018.

They compared this to data on extreme weather events — droughts, heat waves, floods and cold snaps — and found evidence suggesting “climate change is already driving increasing crop losses in observational records”.

While all four became significantly more frequent over the 50-year time period, “the severity of heatwave and drought impacts on crop production…