Climate change will reduce much of North America's food production, UN report says with 'high confidence'

Global warming "is causing dangerous and widespread disruptions in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world," according to a new United Nations report on climate change. What does that mean for American farmers and those who depend on what they produce? "Hotter weather and shifts in rainfall are likely to reduce food production in North America and are a risk to food security," Chuck Abbott reports for the Food & Environment Reporting Network.

With what it calls "high confidence," the report predicts that "Climate change will continue to shift North American agricultural and fishery suitability ranges. It also predicts production losses of fish and key crops, and with "medium confidence," lower production of livestock and aquaculture products.

Coastal and eastern parts of the U.S. will become more flood-prone, which will displace Americans and disrupt trade, while the West will suffer more wildfires, more intense droughts and scarcer water availability, the report says. That will endanger farms, especially those that rely on irrigation.

The panel called for immediate action to slow climate change, specifically through reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and conserving or restoring ecosystems, Abbott reports.