Education

UF researchers warn rice has hit its heat tolerance ceiling

A University of Florida study finds that after roughly 9,000 years of cultivation, rice has reached the upper boundary of its thermal tolerance. Scientists project that greenhouse-gas-driven warming over the next half century will force temperatures to rise at a pace approximately 5,000 times faster than rice and many other crops have ever experienced in their evolutionary history. Because half of all people on Earth derive a significant portion of their calories from rice, the findings carry serious implications for global food security.

Sources: UF News