The cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration proposed by the Trump administration would cause a "slow and torturous" loss to weather forecasting, leaving the U.S. unaware of potential dangers, according to a study released in the scientific journal Nature on Wednesday.
The lead authors for the study, Solomon Hsiang of Stanford University and Andrew Hultgren of the University of Illinois, said in a statement released with the study that the effects of climate change would devastate the global food supply, particularly farmlands in the midwestern United States.
Scientists also warn that although proper weather forecasting is vital to avoiding crop failures, the wide scale staff reductions at the NOAA's various agencies have hindered weather and climate tracking efforts.
Researchers estimate that the wealthiest regions could lose as much as 41% of their crop yield by 2100 and the poorest could lose as much as 28%.
Jonathan Martin, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Wisconsin, said that losing weather forecast is "like losing your eyesight: slow and torturous."
Hultgren said, "Any level of warming, even when accounting for adaptation, results in global output losses from agriculture," and noted that corn and soybean production in the U.S. may "just get hammered under a high warming future," adding, "You do start to wonder if the Corn Belt is going to be the Corn Belt in the future."
Hsiang warned that although "farmers know how to maintain the soil, invest in infrastructure, repair the barn ... if you're letting the climate depreciate, the rest of it is a waste."
He added, "The land you leave to your kids will be good for something, but not for farming.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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