The oceans play a dual role in climate change, absorbing a significant portion of the excess heat generated by increased greenhouse gas concentrations and serving as a sink for carbon dioxide emitted by humans. However, this absorption has triggered a worrying phenomenon known as ocean acidification, which poses a serious threat to marine ecosystems. In an effort to underscore the seriousness of this issue, researchers have developed a visualization tool called "ocean acidification stripes".

According to the World Bank's September 2023 update, food price increases outpaced increases in the consumer price index in 81 percent of the 162 countries for which data are available. While grain price indexes are declining overall due to falling maize and wheat prices, India's export restrictions are causing disruptions and price spikes in the rice market. Also of concern is the upward trend in prices of chemical fertilizers and other agricultural inputs in response to rising fuel prices.

One week from now, on September 26, a hybrid seminar entitled "Millets - How to unlock their potentials to address nutrition, agriculture and climate challenges” will be held on the occasion of the International Year of Millets 2023. During this event, distinguished researchers from national and international arenas will come together to talk about the latest advances in millet research and explore their vast potential applications. The main objective is to raise awareness about the role of millets in mitigating the effects of climate change and addressing nutritional concerns. We invite you to join us for this enlightening seminar.

Systemic change is required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible in the fight against climate change and to achieve carbon sequestration where possible. If carbon dioxide sequestration is greater than emissions, it may be possible to achieve net negative emissions, where total emissions are negative. A paper published in PLOS CLIMATE in early September demonstrated the potential for the food system of the future to achieve net-negative emissions through multi-faceted "cradle-to-grave" and "land-to-sea" emission reduction strategies that incorporate emerging climate-smart agro-industrial technologies.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) launched the national initiative known as the Sustainable Food System Strategy "MIDORI" in May 2021. Based on this initiative, MAFF initiated the "Green Asia" project to promote the application of technologies that contribute to climate change mitigation and sustainable agriculture in the Asia-Monsoon region, which is currently being implemented by JIRCAS.

On September 6, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its annual State of the Climate in 2022 report, announcing that many of the leading indicators of climate change, including greenhouse gas concentration, global sea level and ocean heat content, have reached record highs. Also on September 6, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced that August 2023 will be the hottest August on record, prompting the UN Secretary-General to describe it as a "season of simmering" and warn of "climate breakdown".

While the Northern Hemisphere experienced an unusual heat wave this summer, many parts of Asia also reported record high temperatures and extreme weather conditions. In August 2023, India, the world's most populous country, experienced its hottest and driest August on record, despite a monsoon rainy season and localized heavy rainfall. A recent study published in Nature uses deep learning to show how global warming is affecting the water cycle, causing extreme daily rainfall variability.

The impact of rising food prices on poverty is a complex issue. Today we present a recent article by Headey and Hirvonen (2023) published in Nature Food.