Growing Smarter: How Crops Can Thrive in a Hotter World

The world’s major farming regions—places like the California and the Midwest in the U.S. and parts of Asia and Africa—are heating up. These areas grow the foods we depend on most, like wheat, corn, and rice. But climate change is making it harder for these crops to survive. In fact, scientists say we’re already seeing smaller harvests in some places. And if temperatures keep rising, food shortages could get worse. Can scientists help them grow smarter to beat the heat?

But there’s hope. Scientists around the world are working on ways to help crops survive in hotter conditions. This issue feels personal. My own county grows over $1.1 billion in agricultural products each year, so the risks to farming are right in my backyard.

My own county grows over $1.1 billion in agricultural products each year, so the risks to farming are right in my backyard.

Why Heat Is a Problem for Plants

Plants make their own food using a process called photosynthesis. They take in carbon dioxide from the air, absorb sunlight, and turn it into energy. But when the air gets too hot—over about 104°F (40°C)—photosynthesis starts to shut down. Without energy, the plant can’t grow, and it could even die.

Farmers can sometimes cool plants down by watering them more, but that only works if there’s enough water. So, scientists are looking deeper, inside the plants, for solutions to help them grow smarter.

Even NASA is helping grapes!

Here’s how: NASA has a couple of tools in its gigantic toolbox that help vineyards and wineries. One tool is ECOSTRESS, an instrument that’s attached to the International Space Station. ECOSTRESS maps the temperate of plants from space and shows how hot or cool they are.

ECOSTRESS can “see” water stress early.

When grapevines don’t get enough water, they heat up. ECOSTRESS can spot these hot areas on the plants long before farmers notice anything wrong.

ECOSTRESS Maps Evapotranspiration

It’s a long, fancy word for water loss from the soil and plants. ECOSTRESS measures this to show which parts of the vineyard are drying out too fast.

Close-up monitoring

ECOSTRESS can zoom in to about 98 feet (30 meters). That’s almost the size of a basketball court—so farmers can see exactly which section of crops need water.

The Power of Rubisco

One focus is an enzyme called rubisco—it helps turn carbon into sugar during photosynthesis. There’s also a helper protein called rubisco activase that keeps rubisco working, especially in hot weather. Scientists like Dr. Carl Bernacchi at the University of Illinois are exploring how to borrow versions of this protein from heat-tolerant plants and put them into crops that usually struggle with heat.

If this helps plants to grow smarter, crops like wheat or soybeans could become better at handling extreme temperatures.

Changing the Way Plants Are Built

For example, adjusting how leaves are spaced or angled could help keep plants cooler by balancing shade and sunlight. Changing how much chlorophyll (the green pigment in leaves) a plant makes could also help it reflect more sunlight and stay cooler.

Teaching Plants to Sense Heat Differently

A second group of researchers is looking at how plants sense heat. Instead of having one “thermometer,” plants might use a network of tiny protein sensors spread throughout their tissues. If scientists can figure out how these sensors work, they might be able to help crops react to heat more effectively.

A Long Road Ahead

Some of these ideas on growing smarter crops are already being tested in labs, but it will take time before they can be used in farmers’ fields. Still, scientists are hopeful, smart, and creative. They’re using tools like crossbreeding, speeding up plant mutations, and even gene editing to build crops that can survive the future’s hotter climate.

And that’s good news—for farmers, food supplies, and for all of us who love to eat and drink a little wine!

---

Want to learn more about solutions to climate change? Stay tuned here, keep asking questions, and spread the word! We can do this for our families and friends!