Headlines about the devastating impact of climate change on our food systems have become worryingly more frequent in the past few years.
The catastrophic drought causing a hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa was made 100 times more likely because of climate change, according to a recent analysis by the World Weather Attribution initiative. Flooding in Pakistan was made up to 50% worse by global heating, the same research group said last September. And in the U.S., California’s extended dry spell — the worst in 1,200 years — has also been attributed to climate change.
But while the world is perhaps only just waking up to the severity of these impacts, our knowledge of how global heating disrupts agricultural processes has been developed over 40 years, in part thanks to the pioneering work of agronomist and climatologist, and 2022 World Food Prize laureate Cynthia Rosenzweig.
About the author
Helen Lock
Helen Lock is a former associate editor at Devex, responsible for commissioning, editing, and producing content on the partnerships editorial team. She has seven years of experience in journalism as a multimedia content producer for an international advocacy organization and as a reporter and section editor for U.K. national newspapers. As a freelance journalist, she covered cities, tech for good, global development, and education. She holds a bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Manchester and a master’s in Journalism from Goldsmiths, University of London.
