Farmers, Don't Count on Technology to Protect Agriculture from Climate Change

Of all the U.S. industries threatened by climate change, agriculture—and the broader food system it supports—is especially vulnerable to unchecked global warming, the new National Climate Assessment released by 13 federal agencies warns. 

Technology is helping farmers use seeds, fertilizer
and irrigation with greater precision, but the new
U.S. climate report warns that science and technology
advances won't be enough on their own to protect
agriculture from climate change.

Amid the report's grim projections for agriculture, the authors make an especially notable prediction: Advances in science and technology, like precision irrigation, drought-resistant crops and targeted fertilizer treatments, will only go so far toward helping farmers and ranchers cope with increasingly erratic weather.

The effects of climate change on American farms and ranches will likely outpace technological fixes within decades, even with the present pace of agricultural innovation, the report says.

Read the Inside Climate News story by Georgina Gustin - “Farmers, Don't Count on Technology to Protect Agriculture from Climate Change.”