An article in the Guardian’s Observer reports on how rising temperatures and unpredictable weather patterns will impact agriculture across the world and affect millions of people.

Two major conferences are being held in Ireland this week looking at food security and focusing on the challenges brought about by climate change. Frank Rijsberman, Chief Executive Officer of the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research Centres is quoted in the article, saying “we are not so worried about the total amount of food produced so much as the vulnerability of the one billion people who are without food already and who will be hit hardest by climate change”.

Experts attending the conferences will discuss the threat to basic foodstuffs and potential consequences for the poor, especially in Africa and Asia, of rising temperatures.

The US too will be impacted, with climate change expected to affect crops, livestock and fruit harvests as well as leading to more pests and less effective herbicides. The draft US National Climate Assessment predicts drastic changes over the next three decades. “Climate disruptions to agricultural production have increased in the recent past and are projected to increase further,” says the report.

Already the impacts of climate change are being seen. In 2010, climate-driven factors led to a 33% drop in wheat production in Russia and a 19% drop in Ukraine. Separate climate events in each case led to a 14% drop in Canada's wheat output, and a 9% drop in Australia.

A recent study into the lower Mekong basin, which includes Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos, predicts temperatures in this region could increase twice as much as previously expected, devastating food supplies for the 100 million people expected to live there by 2050.

Read the full story: Millions face starvation as world warms, say scientists