New research shows that crops like maize and wheat, which depend on recycled rainfall, are more vulnerable to drought.
New research shows that crops like maize and wheat, which depend on recycled rainfall, are more vulnerable to drought. A critical moisture threshold could help predict and reduce future crop failures.
It matters where the rain that irrigates your food comes from.
In one of the first global analyses tracing the origins of rainfall for major crops, researchers at Stanford University and the University of California, San Diego, used satellite data and physical models to map where rainwater is recycled from land versus drawn from oceans. They found that regions relying more on land-sourced moisture – such as the U.S. Midwest, southern Africa, and parts of Asia – face greater drought risk and crop yield losses when rainfall falters.
The study, published recently in Nature Sustainability, offers a new way to pinpoint vulnerable farming regions and guide adaptation strategies. It also identifies a key threshold – when roughly a third of rainwater comes from land sources – beyond which crops become far more likely to suffer water stress.
Read More: Stanford University
Photo Credit: NickyPe via Pixabay
