Warming World, Hungrier Insects: What Can We Do About It?

As global temperatures push beyond 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, researchers are warning that key crops such as wheat could suffer damage rates of up to 46% from insect pests.
That isn’t a distant, abstract problem — it’s a direct threat to food security, prices, and farming livelihoods.

Why warming favours pests

Rising temperatures change the balance between crops and insects:

• 🐛 Faster insect life cycles → more generations per growing season

• ❄️ Milder winters → fewer pests die off

• 🌍 Range expansion → insects moving into regions where crops have little natural defence

• 🌾 Stressed plants → crops weakened by heat and drought are easier to attack

In short: warmer climates tilt the playing field in favour of insects.

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What can we do about it?

1️⃣ Smarter pest management (not just more chemicals)

Heavy pesticide use creates resistance and harms pollinators. Instead:

• Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

• Monitoring pest populations and intervening early

• Using targeted, lower-impact controls only when needed

2️⃣ Breed and protect resilient crops

• Developing pest-resistant and heat-tolerant wheat varieties

• Preserving genetic diversity rather than relying on a few high-yield strains

3️⃣ Work with ecosystems

• Encouraging natural predators (birds, beetles, parasitic wasps)

• Using crop rotations and mixed planting to disrupt pest life cycles

• Restoring hedgerows and field margins instead of sterile monocultures

4️⃣ Reduce the root cause

Ultimately, pest pressure is another climate signal:

• Cutting fossil fuel use

• Protecting soils as carbon stores

• Supporting farming methods that reduce emissions and build resilience

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The bigger picture

This isn’t just about insects eating crops.
It’s about a food system designed for a stable climate now being pushed beyond its limits.

If warming continues unchecked, yield losses won’t be the exception — they’ll be the norm.

The good news?
Many of the solutions already exist. What’s missing is speed, scale, and political will.