 |
|
|
|||||
A major new study published in Nature examines how rising temperatures will impact global food systems, and the results offer a dire warning for wealthy countries. As the planet warms, the environments that grow the most-consumed crops around the globe are changing, but theres been a lot of disagreement about what those changes will look like. Counter to some more optimistic previous findings, the new study finds that every degree Celsius that the planet warms could result in 120 calories worth of food production lost per person, per day. The new analysis is the result of almost a decade of work by the Climate Impact Lab, a consortium of climate, agriculture and policy experts. The research brings together data from more than 12,000 regions in 55 countries, with a focus on wheat, corn, soybeans, rice, barley and cassava the core crops that account for two-thirds of calories consumed globally. When global production falls, consumers are hurt because prices go up and it gets harder to access food and feed our families, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability Professor Solomon Hsiang, a senior author on the study, said in an announcement paired with the new paper. If the climate warms by 3 degrees, thats basically like everyone on the planet giving up breakfast. Adaptation wont offset farming losses Some previous research has hinted that global food production could actually go up in a warming planet by lengthening growing seasons and widening the viable regions where some crops can grow. In Western American states like Washington and California, growing seasons are already substantially longer than they once were, adding an average of 2.2 days per decade since 1895. The new study criticizes previous research for failing to realistically estimate how farmers will adapt to a changing climate. While prior studies rely on an all-or-nothing model for agricultural climate adaptation where farmers either adapted flawlessly or didnt adapt at all, the new paper in Nature systematically measure[s] how much farmers adjust to changing conditions, a first according to the research group. That analysis found that farmers who do adapt by switching to new crops or changing long-standing planting and harvesting practices could lessen a third of climate-caused losses in crop yields by 2100. But even in a best-case scenario of climate adaptation, food production is on track to take a major hit. Any level of warming, even when accounting for adaptation, results in global output losses from agriculture, lead author and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Assistant Professor of agricultural and consumer economics Andrew Hultgren said. The richest countries have the most to lose While wealthy countries are insulated from some of the deadliest ravages of the climate crisis, the new analysis reveals a U.S. food supply that is particularly vulnerable. Researchers found that the modern breadbaskets that havent yet explored climate adaptations will fare worse than parts of the world where extreme heat and changing weather has already forced farmers to adapt. Places in the Midwest that are really well suited for present day corn and soybean production just get hammered under a high warming future, Hultgren said. You do start to wonder if the Corn Belt is going to be the Corn Belt in the future. In a high-emissions model of the future where humans fail to meaningfully slow the march of global warming, corn production would dive by 40% in the U.S. grain belt, with soybeans suffering an even worse 50% decline. Wheat production would decline 30 to 40% in the same scenario. Because such a large fraction of agricultural production is concentrated in these wealthy-but-low-adaption regions, they dominate projections of global calorie production, generating much of the global food security risk we document, the authors wrote, adding that farming in the U.S. is optimized for high average yields in current climate conditions but is not robust enough to withstand a changing climate. This is basically like sending our agricultural profits overseas. We will be sending benefits to producers in Canada, Russia, China. Those are the winners, and we in the U.S. are the losers, Hsiang said. The longer we wait to reduce emissions, the more money we lose.
Category:
E-Commerce
Federal Reserve officials expect inflation to worsen in the coming months but they still foresee two interest rate cuts by the end of this year, the same as they projected in March. The Fed kept its key rate unchanged for the fourth straight meeting Wednesday, and said the economy is expanding at a solid pace.” Changes to the Fed’s rate typically though not always influence borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, and business loans. The central bank also released its latest quarterly projections for the economy and interest rates. It expects noticeably weaker growth, higher inflation, and slightly higher unemployment by the end of this year than it had forecast in March, before President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs April 2. Most of those duties were then postponed April 9. The Fed also signaled it would cut rates just once in 2026, down from two cuts projected in March. Fed officials see inflation, according to its preferred measure, rising to 3% by the end of this year, from 2.1% in April. It also projects the unemployment rate will rise to 4.5%, from 4.2% currently. Growth is expected to slow to just 1.4% this year, down from 2.5% last year. Despite the gloomier outlook, Fed chair Jerome Powell and other officials have underscored that they are holding off from any changes to their key rate because of the uncertainty surrounding the impact of the tariffs and economic outlook. Many of the Fed’s policymakers have expressed particular concern that the duties could boost prices, creating another surge of inflation just a couple of years after the worst inflation spike in four decades. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. APs earlier story follows below. The inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve are expected to keep their key interest rate unchanged Wednesday for the fourth straight time. That’s likely to shift attention to how many interest rate cuts they forecast for this year. It’s widely expected that the 19 Fed officials that participate in the central bank’s interest-rate decisions will project two rate cuts for this year, as they did in December and March. But some economists expect that one or both of those cuts could be pushed back to 2026. The Fed will almost certainly keep the short-term rate it controls at about 4.3%, economists say, where it has stood since the central bank last cut rates in December. Since then, it has stayed on the sidelines while it evaluates the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and other policy changes on the economy and prices. Inflation has been cooling since January, and many economists say that without the higher import taxes, the Fed would likely be cutting its rate further. According to the Fed’s preferred measure, inflation dropped to just 2.1% in April, the lowest since last September. Core inflation which exclude the volatile food and energy categories was 2.5%. Those figures suggest inflation is largely coming under control, for now. Yet the Fed’s short-term interest rate remains at an elevated level intended to slow growth and inflation. Some economists argue that with inflation cooling, the Fed could resume its rate reductions. When the Fed reduces its rate, it often though not always leads to lower costs for consumer and business borrowing, including for mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards. Yet financial markets also influence the level of longer-term rates and can keep them elevated even if the Fed reduces the shorter-term rate it controls. But Fed officials have said they want to see whether Trump’s tariffs boost inflation and for how long. Economists generally believe a tariff hike should at least lead to a one-time increase in prices, as companies seek to offset the cost of higher duties. Many Fed officials, however, are worried that the tariffs could lead to more sustained inflation. While theory might suggest that (the Fed) should look through a one-time increase in prices, I would be uncomfortable staking the Feds reputation and credibility on theory, Jeffrey Schmid, president of the Fed’s Kansas City branch and a voting member of the Fed’s interest-rate setting committee, said earlier this month. The Trump White House has sharply ramped up pressure on Powell to reduce borrowing costs, with Trump himself calling the Fed chair a numbskull last week for not cutting. Other officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, are also calling for a rate reduction. The Bank of England has cut its rate twice this year but is expected to keep it unchanged at 4.25% when it meets Thursday. Christopher Rugaber, AP economics writer
Category:
E-Commerce
As anti-ICE protests intensify across the country, kids are turning Roblox into a protest ground online. Last week, thousands took to the streets to protest the Trump administrations immigration policies. Meanwhile, on Roblox, avatars faced off with players dressed in police SWAT gear in the popular Brookhaven roleplay world (based on the real city of Brookhaven, Georgia), as Taylor Lorenz first reported in User Mag. After her story published, Lorenz shared an update that Roblox protesters are now facing police violence. A screenshot of a text shared with Lorenz (which she then posted on X) reads: I was in a Roblox ice protest but then we all got shot. By the police. On Monday I reported on anti-ICE protests taking over Roblox. One of the kids I interviewed texted me this morning to share that the Roblox protesters are now facing police violence. https://t.co/bmGLJmKXd0 pic.twitter.com/0qvdZvwGv7— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) June 18, 2025 Players have been sharing updates across TikTok and Discord, posting dates and times for upcoming protests. Some Roblox players are even enacting their own ICE raids. One TikTok video shows a player dressed as an ICE agent, barging into another players Roblox home and violently arresting him. @riobandzblox Know your rights #iceraids #ice #scared #skit #besafe #robloxskit #dahood i was only temporary – my head is empty Roblox hosts around 85 million daily active users globally, about 40% of whom are under the age of 12. Brookhaven is Robloxs most-visited experience ever, with over 65 billion visits, and recently won two Roblox Innovation Awards 2024 categories: “Best Roleplay/Life Sim” and “Best Social Hangout.” A study published earlier this year in Cornell Universitys preprint server arXiv found that in-game roleplay and avatar customization help kids aged eight to 13 explore their identities. As the iPad generation grows up, gaming platforms like Roblox are becoming spaces where they process major world events. Virtual protests arent new. In 2016, young users took to Club Penguin to protest President Donald Trumps victory in an election they were too young to vote in, declaring not my president and penguins of color matter in the speech bubbles above their penguin avatars. In 2020, gamers staged virtual sit-ins in Habbo and held demonstrations in Toontown during the Black Lives Matter protests amid lockdown restrictions. These protests may be virtual, but that doesnt make them any less real. Gen Alpha has grown up online, and with many still too young to vote or take their activism to the streets, it makes sense theyre showing up in droves in the spaces they inhabit every day. As one TikTok user shared, her younger sister couldnt attend the anti-ICE protests in person because of safety concerns. Instead, her sister told her: Its ok I protested on Roblox yesterday.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||