Overview
- The FAO and WMO report, released Wednesday, finds extreme heat is pushing food and farming systems toward failure and endangering the livelihoods and health of more than a billion people.
- It estimates about half a trillion agricultural work hours are lost each year as high temperatures make outdoor labor unsafe and less productive.
- Most major crops see yields drop once temperatures exceed about 30°C, with projections showing growing‑season work capacity in India’s Indo‑Gangetic plains could fall below 40% by late century under high emissions.
- Recent shocks cited include Morocco’s six‑year drought followed by record heat that cut cereal yields by over 40%, and a 2025 heat event in Kyrgyzstan linked to a 25% drop in cereal harvests.
- Risks climb fast with warming, with extreme‑heat intensity expected to double at 2°C and quadruple at 3°C compared with 1.5°C, a trend mirrored by 2024’s marine heatwaves that touched 91% of the global ocean.