Extreme high temperatures in Argentina linked to climate change have exacerbated the impact of a historic drought that has hit the South American country’s agricultural regions since last year, scientists said in a report on Thursday.
Scientists affiliated with the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group said a quick analysis showed that climate change did not directly reduce rainfall, but that high temperatures likely reduced water availability and exacerbated the effects of drought.
The drought has knocked out soybean, corn and wheat crops in the country, which is the world’s largest exporter of soybean oil and meal and No. 3 in corn, leading to a sharp cut in harvest forecasts. The drought also affected the smaller neighbor Uruguay.
The lack of rain is related to the presence of the La Niña climate phenomenon, a cooling of the equatorial Pacific that reduces rainfall in some parts of Argentina. However, WWA scientists said the extreme temperatures are a result of global warming.
WWA said in a report “The region is also experiencing intense heat waves that have increased in frequency, intensity and duration due to climate change”.
Last week, much of Argentina’s agricultural region suffered a new heat wave that lasted several days and quickly used up rainfall that fell in late January and February in areas that are in desperate need of water after last year’s hot weather.
(This suggests) that climate change likely reduced water availability and increased agricultural drought during this period, although the study could not quantify this effect “Higher temperatures in the region at the end of 2022, which were attributed to climate change, reduced water availability in the models,” WWA said.
Read Now :<strong>Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech are preparing for a trial with Moderna</strong>
