The article highlights the crucial aspect of climate change that has often been overlooked – its impact on the nutritional quality of food crops. Rising CO2 levels and hotter temperatures can lead to a reduction in key minerals like calcium and certain antioxidant compounds, making the crops less healthy. This is not just a problem for farmers but also for consumers, as it can lead to diets that are higher in calories but poorer in nutritional value.

The research, led by Jiata Ugwah Ekele, a PhD student at Liverpool John Moores University, UK, used environment-controlled growth chambers to simulate the UK’s predicted future climate scenarios. The crops were grown under different conditions, and their nutritional quality was analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and X-Ray Fluorescence profiling.

The preliminary results suggest that elevated levels of atmospheric CO2 can help crops grow faster and bigger but certainly not healthier. The interaction between CO2 and heat stress had complex effects – the crops did not grow as big or fast, and the decline in nutritional quality intensified.

This research has serious implications for human health and wellbeing. The altered balance of nutrients in crops could contribute to diets that are higher in calories but poorer in nutritional value, leading to greater risks of obesity and type 2 diabetes, particularly in populations already struggling with non-communicable diseases.

Crops with poor nutritional content can also lead to deficiencies in vital proteins and vitamins that compromise the human immune system and exacerbate existing health conditions – particularly in low or middle-income countries.

The research highlights the importance of studying multiple stressors together and emphasizes that we cannot generalize across crops. Different species react differently to climate change stressors, making it essential to study each crop individually.

This research is not just about food production but also about human development and climate adaptation. It’s essential to think holistically about the kind of food system we’re building – one that not only produces enough food but also promotes health, equity, and resilience.

The findings of this research are being presented at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Antwerp, Belgium on July 8th, 2025. The researchers are open to collaborating further on this project with the wider research community, including those from agriculture, nutrition, and climate policy.

The majority of the Earth’s plant species rely on animal pollinators to reproduce, and our modern agricultural industry is heavily reliant on honey bees. Feral honey bees, which are non-native and often escape human management, can perturb native ecosystems when they become abundant. A new study by University of California San Diego biologists is calling attention to the threat posed by these feral honey bees to native pollinators in Southern California.

The researchers found that honey bees remove about 80% of pollen during the first day a flower opens, leaving scant resources for native bees. If the pollen and nectar used to create honey bee biomass were instead converted to native bees, populations of native bees would be expected to be roughly 50 times larger than they are currently.

While public concern often focuses on the plight of the honey bee, researchers say that such a level of honey bee exploitation is not well documented. This can pose an additional and important threat to native bee populations in places where honey bees have become abundant.

The study used pollen-removal experiments to estimate the amount of pollen extracted by honey bees using three common native plants as targeted pollen sources. The researchers found that just two visits by honey bees removed more than 60% of available pollen from flowers of all three species.

One step to address this situation could be increased guidance on whether and where large-scale contract beekeepers are allowed to keep their hives on public lands after crops have bloomed, to limit opportunities for honey bees to outcompete native species for scarce resources provided by native vegetation.

As you venture deeper into this unique landscape, notice the diverse reactions from locals as they interact with their feral neighbors. Some are filled with wonder, while others express concern for safety or environmental impact. This image captures the essence of the complex relationships between humans and wildlife in a semi-urban setting, where natural beauty and urbanization coexist in an intricate dance.

The City University of Hong Kong-led study reveals that public attitudes toward the buffalo fall into four key categories: appreciation and conditional acceptance; concern about community impacts; seeing them as valuable for conservation and education; and individual perceptions formed through everyday encounters. Neutral responses were most frequent, followed by positive and then negative responses.

Regarding the questions on Buffalo Tolerance and Appreciation, 61% of the responses were neutral, 25% highly positive, and 14% highly negative, with effects of age, gender, ethnicity, and birthplace. Looking at the questions on Buffalo Social Benefits and Advocacy, 66% of responses were neutral, 19% highly positive, and 15% highly negative, with significant effects of age and ethnicity.

A similar pattern was found for questions on Preservation and Education, where 46% of the responses were neutral, 41% highly positive, and 13% highly negative, with effects of gender, ethnicity, and birthplace. In the final section on Impacts on Daily Life, 49% of the responses were neutral, 27% highly positive, and 23% highly negative, with significant effects of age and ethnicity.

The study also found that familiarity with wildlife in rural areas often leads to more positive perceptions among participants. This suggests that education and exposure can play a crucial role in shaping attitudes toward feral animals in semi-urban settings.

Ultimately, the research highlights the importance of considering diverse perspectives when managing human-wildlife interactions in shared landscapes. By understanding the complexities of these relationships, we can work towards creating harmonious coexistence between humans and wildlife, even in the most unexpected places.