Extreme heat is increasingly disrupting food systems worldwide, threatening the health and livelihoods of more than one billion people, according to a joint report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Meteorological Organization.
The study notes that livestock suffer heat stress above 25 degrees Celsius, crop yields decline beyond 30 degrees, and fish face cardiac failure in overheated waters.
In 2024, ninety-one percent of the global ocean experienced at least one marine heatwave, while farm workers in regions such as South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa endured up to 250 days too hot to work, causing an annual loss of around 500 billion working hours.
The report warns that extreme heat acts as a “risk multiplier,” worsening droughts, wildfires, pests, and diseases.
It calls for urgent measures including crop breeding, adjusted planting schedules, improved farm management, and international cooperation to safeguard food security and support low-emission development.
