HEADLINE: “Two More Climate Disasters Delayed: Rice Up, Amazonian Wildfires Down”, By H. Sterling Burnett

“Not a day goes by without the mainstream media attributing a disaster or problem, global and/or regional, to human-caused climate change. Claims that human greenhouse gas emissions…”

Two More Climate Disasters Delayed: Rice Up, Amazonian Wildfires Down

Not a day goes by without the mainstream media attributing a disaster or problem, global and/or regional, to human-caused climate change. Claims that human greenhouse gas emissions are responsible for crop failures or rising wildfires are among the most frequently told lies.

Climate Realism has posted more than 200 articles debunking claims that climate change is harming crop yields and production, covering a wide array of important fruits, grains, and vegetables grown all around the world. These articles demonstrate uniformly that, contrary to repeated claims of decline, crops have set new records repeatedly over the past few decades of modest warming, in large part due to the beneficial effect of carbon dioxide for plant growth and health.

In addition, Climate Realism has posted dozens of articles refuting claims that climate change has caused an increase in wildfires, instead showing that as the Earth has warmed the number, severity, and acreage lost to wildfires have declinedin the United States and globally. It’s not just analysts writing for Climate Realismwho say this; it’s the data from NASA and the European Space Agency, for example, and for crops, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

New proof that climate change is benefitting crop production, in this case rice, one of the critical staple crops for people around the world, comes from research and data cited in recent articles at Bloomberg and the Good News Network showing rice yields per acre have doubled since 1975, resulting in the lowest global prices for rice in 18 years even as acreage devoted to rice production has declined. The Bloomberg article specifically says the price of rice “suggests the climate crisis won’t starve the world.” Beyond rice, the Good News Network story reports that even amid yearly ups and downs due to sometimes inclement weather, pest invasions, and market conditions, corn production has increased by about two bushels per year in recent years, more than double the yield that was produced in 1975.

The same week the Good News Network published its story touting gains in rice yields and associated price declines, it published a story about the sharp decline in the amount of Amazonian rainforest lost to fires (both wildfires and those intentionally set to clear land for various uses) in 2025 so far. Data from the satellite monitoring program called MapBiomas show Brazil’s amazonian rainforest had a 65 percent drop in acreage burned from 2024, the sharpest drop in wildfire losses there since recordkeeping began.

Parts of the Amazon had a sharp increase in acreage burned in 2024 due to a particularly severe drought. This drought and the associated wildfires were wrongly blamed on climate change despite there being no long-term trend suggesting the drought in question and resulting wildfires were anything more than a temporary, natural blip in the long-term trend, meaning weather, not climate, was to blame for 2024’s conditions. With better rain conditions returning, fire losses in Brazil declined sharply. Should human-caused climate change be credited for the record decline in Amazonian wildfire losses, based on the short-term focus of climate alarmists? One would have to say so.

In truth, the decline in Amazonian acreage lost to wildfires was even greater. The Amazon spans countries beyond Brazil; across the amazonian basin as a whole, wildfire losses declined by 54 percent year over year.

One year’s bad or good weather in a region, or a year’s acreage lost to wildfires, or a single year’s increase or decrease in a particular crop’s yield or production can’t be blamed on long-term human-caused climate change; only a long-term trend can support such an attribution. The data for crops, wildfires, and even most types of extreme weather show long-term improvements or no identifiable trend, meaning whatever impacts climate change might be having, and whatever the cause, it isn’t resulting in catastrophic or existential harm.

Based on real-world data, as opposed to climate model outputs, there is no reason to believe these facts will change in the foreseeable future. Vis-à-vis climate change, the world’s future seems as bright as the Sun, which is the main driver of climate and weather.

BOTTOMLINE: “Based on real-world data, as opposed to climate model outputs, there is no reason to believe these facts will change in the foreseeable future. Vis-à-vis climate change, the world’s future seems as bright as the Sun, which is the main driver of climate and weather.”