Assessing the impact of climatic change on food production

Attempts to assess the impact of a hypothetical climatic change on food production have relied on the use of statistical models which predict crop yields using various climatic variables. It is emphasized that the coefficients of these models are not universal constants, but rather statistical estimates subject to several sources of error. Thus, any statement regarding the estimated impact of climatic change on food production must be qualified appropriately.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.