The sharp increase in the frequency, intensity and duration of extreme heat events over the past 50 years is set to create significant risks to agrifood systems and ecosystems in the future, according to a new report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

The joint FAO-WMO report describes the physical science of extreme heat, the vulnerabilities observed and the projected impacts on agriculture. It also offers adaptation strategies, case studies and policy recommendations.

“This work highlights how extreme heat is a major risk multiplier, exerting mounting pressure on crops, livestock, fisheries and forests, and on the communities and economies that depend upon them,” said FAO director-general Qu Dongyu.

Continue reading Extreme heat posing significant risks to ecosystems and agriculture, FAO-WMO report warns at Meteorological Technology International.

Kentucky Mesonet at Western Kentucky University has officially opened a new weather monitoring station – the 81st station in its statewide network – in Clay County.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the Clay County Courthouse for the new station, which is located about 10 miles east of Manchester and which began transmitting data in March 2025.

The Clay County installation was developed through a partnership between the US Forest Service, the US Department of Agriculture and Western Kentucky University’s Kentucky Climate Center, which houses the Mesonet.

The new station builds on earlier soil moisture monitoring work conducted in the Daniel Boone National Forest, where more than 30 soil sensors were deployed across five sample areas.

Continue reading Kentucky Mesonet opens weather station in Clay County at Meteorological Technology International.

A team of researchers from the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research (CAS) and East China Normal University have introduced a solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) model to track drought effects in real time. The study, published in the Journal of Remote Sensing, details how the method generates SIF data from the OCO-2 and OCO-3 satellites.

According to the team, the key innovation of the study is the development of a continuous hourly SIF dataset, HC-SIFoco, which tracks vegetation photosynthesis dynamics during droughts. With a high level of accuracy, the dataset demonstrated R² values of 0.89 for SIF and 0.94 for gross primary productivity (GPP) when compared to ground-based observations.

Continue reading Researchers develop model to track drought effects in real time with satellites at Meteorological Technology International.

A multidisciplinary team of researchers from Kansas State University, Mississippi State University, NSF NCAR, Purdue University and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln has received US$5m in funding to expedite the creation of CropSmart. CropSmart will be a mobile app and web-based application that uses a digital twin to provide the agricultural industry with individualized, data-driven recommendations at no or minimal cost.

The application is intended to make agricultural data more accessible and revolutionize the way farmers, agribusiness operators and government agricultural officials make decisions about irrigation strategies, fertilizer applications and when to harvest. Its virtual replica of the physical world can run multiple simulations to help answer questions for ‘what if’ scenarios.

Continue reading Researchers receive US$5m to create digital twin for agricultural decision-making at Meteorological Technology International.

The Global Engineering and Research (GEAR) Lab at MIT has developed low-cost, solar-powered irrigation tools to make precision agriculture more accessible.

GEAR Lab has created several drip irrigation technology solutions, including a low-pressure drip emitter that has been shown to reduce pumping energy by more than 50% when compared with existing emitters; a systems-level optimization model that analyzes factors like local weather conditions and crop layouts, to cut overall system operation costs by up to 30%; and a low-cost precision irrigation controller that optimizes system energy and water use, enabling farmers to operate the system on an ideal schedule given their specific resources, needs and preferences.

Continue reading MIT develops low-cost, solar-powered irrigation tools for accessible precision agriculture at Meteorological Technology International.

Agricultural flash droughts are set to double in frequency for parts of Europe, South America and Africa in the coming decades due to climate change, according to a new study.

Agricultural flash droughts are characterized by the rapid loss of soil moisture, which can ruin crops and increase fire risk.

Climate researcher Professor Emily Black from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) and the University of Reading in the UK used climate model outputs from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) to unearth the changes in agricultural flash droughts driven by global warming.

The study shows that although they were once considered rare, agricultural flash droughts are projected to more than double in frequency in the coming decades – affecting people and places worldwide.

Continue reading Frequency of flash droughts could more than double due to climate change at Meteorological Technology International.

Researchers have reported that farmers around the world could help the planet reach a key carbon removal goal set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) by mixing crushed basalt rock into their fields. The study provides one of the first global estimates of the potential carbon dioxide drawdown from basalt application on agricultural fields worldwide.

This type of climate intervention is called enhanced rock weathering. It takes advantage of the weathering process, which naturally sequesters carbon dioxide in carbonate minerals. When used in parallel with emissions reductions, it can help slow the pace of climate change.

Continue reading Farmers could help sequester carbon dioxide with crushed basalt, finds study at Meteorological Technology International.

My Climate View, previously known as the Climate Services for Agriculture online platform, provides farmers with critical data to assess how climate trends, including changes to temperature and rainfall, might impact their business for specific commodities and date ranges in their location, to a 5km² resolution. Along with the new name, My Climate View has been updated with:

• Climate information on new commodities – avocados, cherries and chickpeas;
• Major improvements to how users access and view their local and commodity-specific climate information;
• Details on how climate information is calculated.

The Australian government’s Climate Services for Agriculture program is a collaboration between the Bureau of Meteorology and Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO.

Continue reading Climate tool expands to support Australian farmers at Meteorological Technology International.

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities will lead a new National Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, funded by a US$20m grant over five years from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

Researchers at the AI Institute for Climate-Land Interactions, Mitigation, Adaptation, Tradeoffs and Economy (AI-CLIMATE) aim to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to create more climate-smart practices that will absorb and store carbon while simultaneously boosting the economy in the agriculture and forestry industries.

The new institute is one of seven new NSF- and NIFA-funded AI Institutes announced and is part of a larger federal initiative – totaling nearly US$500m – to bolster collaborative artificial intelligence research across the country.

Continue reading University of Minnesota to lead US$20m AI institute on climate-smart agriculture at Meteorological Technology International.

Boston, Massachusetts-based weather and climate adaptation platform Tomorrow.io, together with non-profit partner TomorrowNow.org, has unveiled a new initiative to bring next-generation weather intelligence technology to more than 20 million farmers across Africa.

Partnering with organizations including the Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), Mercy Corps Agrifin-Sprout and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the result of this collective effort will significantly improve the productivity and resilience of African farmers.

Tomorrow.io is contributing US$80m over five years toward the rainfall measuring satellite constellation, development of next-gen AI-based forecast models and data analysis tools, as well as a tailored data and software service suite to provide hyperlocal agriculture decision support.

Continue reading Tomorrow.io unveils US$100m investment in met tech for African farmers at Meteorological Technology International.