Global Warming = Heat Waves, Crop Damage ... and Toxic Corn Syrup?

Three new studies all link increasing temperature to serious problems for the U.S.

Most obviously, a National Wildlife Federation study details how global warming will continue to produce more extremely hot summer days across the country, resulting in increased risk of death and illness by heart attack, stroke, asthma and air pollution inhalation. Heat waves are already the most deadly natural disaster in the U.S., though hurricanes, blizzards and other high-profile events typically garner more attention.

"Global warming is one of the gravest health emergencies facing humanity. It’s life-threatening and it’s affecting us now," said Dr. Peter Wilk, executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility. "The science confirms that the frequency and duration of heat waves has increased significantly over the last 50 years. In the United States, heat waves already kill more people during a typical year than floods, tornadoes and earthquakes combined. Given these worsening trends, taking decisive action to stop global warming becomes a medical necessity."

While the climate fluctuates -- creating cooler-than-usual conditions, overall, across parts of the U.S. this summer, for instance -- the trend is clearly pointing toward hotter summers, and hotter spikes. (Of course, parts of the U.S. have suffered through extreme heat, including the South and Northwest.)

Solutions to the problem, beyond reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that fuel global warming, including creating more urban parks and green roofs, which reduce the city "heat island effect" from baking pavement; public education and wildlife habitat protection.

A second study notes that the yields of the three most economically important (and heavily subsidized) U.S. crops -- corn, soybeans and cotton -- are threatened by global warming. The North Carolina State University/Columbia University study was published in the Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences. The prediction: 63% to 82% reductions in crop yields this century under the worst-case global warming scenarios, but even a 30% to 46% reduction under the best-case scenarios.

The reason for the crop yield declines is the same as for predicted deaths from heat waves: more extremely hot days. At certain temperature thresholds (84.2 degrees for corn, 86 degrees for soybeans and 89.6 degrees for cotton), crops become dramatically less productive.

Given that so much of U.S. processed food -- and indeed, the world's food supply -- is made from U.S. corn and soy, that means that food prices would rise sharply if we allow global warming to continue unabated, and continue to rely so heavily on corn and soy for our food.

Finally, a third study shows that that ubiquitous ingredient in processed foods (and commercial honey bee food), high-fructose corn syrup, becomes toxic when allowed to heat up to 120 degrees. The University of Wisconsin study is published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Heat up high-fructose corn syrup above 120 degrees and you get a potentially toxic dose of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). This study has more to do with food storage than farming, but it represents yet another way that extremely high temperatures can affect our health.

"The data are important for commercial beekeepers, for manufacturers of HFCS, and for purposes of food storage. Because HFCS is incorporated as a sweetener in many processed foods, the data from this study are important for human health as well," the report states.

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