India decided last Saturday to suspend its wheat exports in order to secure its stocks for the poor harvests to come. A major decision for the world’s second largest wheat producer, which could have consequences for global food security. But the figures are particularly worrying: according to the government, the current heat wave could lead to a 5% drop in wheat crop yields, the first in six years. These heatwaves are not confined to South Asia: Mexico recorded temperatures of 48°C in the state of Chihuahua, and a heatwave will persist throughout the southwestern United States this week, from California to Arizona, from Texas to northern Mexico, with extremely high temperatures also forecast for Egypt (46.2°C) and Saudi Arabia (46.7°C). These are precisely the countries identified by NASA in a study published in early Aprilas potentially uninhabitable by 2050, due to extreme temperatures on the “wet thermometer” index. France will also be affected, with extreme temperatures expected this week in the south-west.
