Report Says Rising CO2 Levels Are Ruining Rice

You may have heard about a new study that predicts reduced nutrient levels in rice as CO2 levels rise. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are are all their results:

And here’s the projected effect, with the poorest countries suffering the worst consequences:

Of course, all these countries might get richer and stop relying on rice so much. Alternatively, maybe the boffins in the DNA labs will construct new rice varieties that get more nutritious at higher CO2 levels. Or maybe lots of people will die. You never know.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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