AccuWeather Vice President of Forecast Operations Dan DePodwin and AccuWeather Climate Expert Brett Anderson discuss the top headlines related to climate change in the September 12 edition of Climate In The News.

Recent research from the University of British Columbia indicates that climate change is making crop harvests, particularly for corn, soybean, and sorghum, increasingly unpredictable. This increased variability poses significant risks for farmers and consumers, especially in regions such as Central America, Southeast Asia, and parts of Africa, where financial safety nets are limited. Factors like sudden hot and dry weather events are contributing to the instability, raising the likelihood of severe crop failures.

A separate study published in Nature Climate Change finds that rising temperatures are also linked to higher sugar consumption, particularly in the United States. As temperatures increase, Americans are consuming more sugar, especially through frozen desserts and beverages, with an estimated additional 100 million pounds of sugar consumed compared to previous years. These trends have implications for both food production and public health.

Climate change is making rollercoaster harvests the new normal

A focus on food today with our climate stories. First, as we head into fall in the Northern Hemisphere, a look at harvests and how they're being impacted by climate change. And then we all enjoy ice cream, but it looks like that sugar intake is going up as temperatures warm across the world. Brett, our first story is from the University of British Columbia. They did a study on crops, corn, soybean, and sorghum, and how the harvest of those crops and the yield, or how much comes out of a harvest every year, is being impacted, being much more variable, fluctuating wildly due to climate change. Yeah, you look for stability, but what's happening is becoming, food production is becoming much more unstable, which is bad news for farmers, and of course for consumers as well, as costs will go up. But what we're seeing here is higher risk for once-in-a-lifetime crop failures, a big increase in that, and that's scary. Yeah, it seems like the once-in-a-hundred-year crop failure might become more like once-in-a-decade. That's significantly more frequent, obviously, and that could affect a variety of types of crops. What areas of the world seem to be most vulnerable? Yeah, it's Central America, Southeast Asia, and portions of Africa, and the reason being for that, limited financial safety nets, which makes sense. Yeah, they have less means to recover from a bad year or a bad harvest when there is significant drought, for instance. What parts, or I guess, why do we see this response from the food perspective? What types of weather are causing this? Yeah, the sudden onset of hot and dry together, all at once, that's the worst possible thing that can happen for a farm. You can have a rapid loss of crops. So I guess, so there's clearly a risk here that will only increase as we head to the rest of the century. What can people do about it? Yeah, well, crop insurance, of course, but that's expensive in many countries, of course. Resistant crops, drought-resistant crops, we see that a lot in the United States, but not so much in other countries, and then soil management. Certainly farming is not for everyone, but the food, everyone eats, so this is definitely an impact to everyone across the world. Our second study is from Nature Climate Change, a recent study about how rising temperatures cause an increase in people intaking sugar, like frozen beverages, frozen desserts like ice cream. We all like ice cream in the summer. But it seems like there's a real climate signal or temperature signal that causes that to be increased. Yeah, we're seeing as temperatures between 54 and 86 degrees as you rise, we're seeing a noticeable increase in the amount of sugar being consumed by Americans. And what they found was there's an added 100 million pounds of sugar compared to 2010. So that's a lot more sugar that needs to be produced. Also, they found that about three grams of increase of sugar per day for somebody might occur. That obviously has impacts on overall health and might impact public policy decisions. This is a very interesting study. Where do they find the data and how do they go about analyzing it? This is interesting. Of course, they looked at weather records going back many years, but what they also did was they looked at 40,000 to 60,000 Americans purchase records through groceries and whatnot, looked at the nutritional value of some of the purchases. Well, thank you, Brett. All about food today on Climate in the News. For other climate stories and information, you can find that at accuweather.com slash climate.

Photos of a "person of interest" in the assassination of Charlie Kirk were released by the Salt Lake City FBI. Authorities are searching for the person who shot and killed the conservative activist at an event at Utah Valley University.

Orem

Photos released of "person of interest" in Charlie Kirk assassination

Authorities shared new details about the suspect's movements leading up to the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The search for the suspect continued on Thursday.

FBI says it has good video of Charlie Kirk shooting suspect

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will award conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated during a campus event in Utah, the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously.

Washington

Trump says he'll award Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Authorities say the weapon used in the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has been recovered and law enforcement tracked the movements of the suspect.

Officials: Weapon in Charlie Kirk shooting recovered; suspect tracked

Trump vowed retribution in an Oval Office address after his close ally and conservative activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot on a campus in Utah. A massive search for the killer intensified following Kirk's death, with police going door-to-door looking for the shooter.

Trump pledges to find killer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk

The UAE’s President Mohammed bin Zayed visited Doha a day after Israel’s strike, signalling Gulf solidarity. Qatar’s prime minister called the strike “state terror,” accusing Israel of killing hopes for a hostage deal and demanding Netanyahu face justice.

Doha

Middle East Conflict

Qatar seeks ‘collective response’ to Israeli attack

Poland is rejecting the claim that Russian drones crossed into Polish airspace by accident and says the move is reckless and could lead to potential escalation.

Warsaw

Ukraine Invasion

Europe on edge after Russian drones invade Polish airspace

Prince Harry and King Charles had a private tea in London, Buckingham Palace. This marks their first meeting in nearly two years. Harry, the Duke of Sussex, last saw his father in early 2024, shortly after it was announced the King was undergoing cancer treatment.

London

King Charles, Prince Harry meet for the first time in nearly 2 years

U.S. President Donald Trump says rightwing political activist Charlie Kirk is dead after being shot in the neck at a university campus event in Utah. There is not a suspect in custody.

Conservative activist Charlie Kirk killed in shooting, Trump says

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux voted on Wednesday (September 10) to acquit former President Jair Bolsonaro of forming a criminal organization and voted to annul his trial over jurisdiction, breaking with peers and raising the odds of an appeal after the final verdict this week.

Brasilia

Brazilian judge votes to annul Bolsonaro case, breaking with peers

U.S. President Donald Trump urged EU officials on Tuesday to hit China with tariffs of up to 100% as part of a strategy to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a U.S. official and an EU diplomat.

Global Tariffs

Trump urges EU to impose 100% tariffs on China and India, sources say

Poland shot down drones that entered its airspace during a widespread Russian attack in western Ukraine, with the NATO member calling the incursion "an act of aggression." It marks the first time a member of the alliance has fired shots in the war.

Poland downs Russian drones in first shots fired by NATO member in war

Two Brazilian Supreme Court justices voted to convict former President Jair Bolsonaro of leading a criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2022 election, as they cast the first votes in the final phase of the ex-president's trial.

Two Brazil Supreme Court justices vote to convict Bolsonaro

Nepal’s prime minister has stepped down with at least 22 people dead, the country’s parliament in flames and its main airport shut down during a violent revolt. The unrest started over a social media ban and grew into a broader anti-corruption protest.

Kathmandu

Nepal’s parliament set on fire, PM resigns as protests spiral

U.S. President Donald Trump can't escape questions about Jeffrey Epstein as a congressional committee released a suggestive personal note to Epstein allegedly from Trump, for the convicted sex offender’s 50th birthday.

White House denies alleged Trump letter to Epstein is authentic

Israel's military said it "conducted a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization," amid reports of large explosions in Qatar's capital city, Doha.

Hamas says none of its leadership killed in Israeli strike on Doha

French President Emmanuel Macron has named loyalist Sebastien Lecornu, a one-time conservative protégé who rallied behind his 2017 presidential run, as prime minister. Analysts say France is in the midst of a complicated political crisis.

Paris

France's Macron names loyalist Lecornu as new PM

Videos circulating online reveal a luminous flying object hitting the vessel. No crew members were harmed. Activists part of the flotilla say they will not be deterred by the attack, and that their mission will continue as planned.

Flotilla for Gaza ship struck by drone off Tunisia, organizers say

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the U.S. labor market added 911,000 fewer jobs between April 2024 and March 2025. CBS News MoneyWatch correspondent Kelly O'Grady breaks it down.

U.S. jobs growth revised down by 911,000

A Michigan judge has dropped criminal charges against 15 people who were accused of trying to falsely certify Donald Trump as the winner of the 2020 presidential election. CBS News' Shanelle Kaul has the latest.

Michigan

Judge tosses case against 15 accused fake Trump electors in 2020

Israel says it carried out a strike targeting Hamas leaders. One Israeli official says it happened in Doha, Qatar. CBS News' Ramy Inocencio reports.

Israel targets Hamas leadership in Doha strike

The Trump administration launched a new immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, saying the latest federal crackdown in a US city would target the "worst of the worst criminals." But activists in the city remain defiant and say they will resist efforts by ICE to snatch people off the streets.

Chicago

Activists defiant as Trump launches ICE raids in Chicago

Norway's Labour Party has won four more years in government after seeing off a surge in support for the right. But exit polls predict it will only have a small majority, and its future may depend on how it navigates Norway's relationship with the rest of the world.

Oslo

Norway’s PM Stoere claims victory in general election

Officials in Nepal say at least 16 people are dead and dozens more injured after police opened fire on protesters. Tens of thousands, mostly young people, rallied in the capital Kathmandu against the government's ban on platforms including Facebook, X, and YouTube.

Multiple fatalities as Nepal police fire on protesters

France's Prime Minister François Bayrou overwhelmingly lost a confidence vote Monday after nine months in office. CBS News correspondent Shanelle Kaul has more.

French PM François Bayrou ousted after losing confidence vote

The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to continue its sweeping immigration stops in the Los Angeles area after they were briefly halted. CBS News immigration reporter Camilo Montoya-Galvez has more.

Supreme Court allows L.A. immigration stops to continue

Two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a bus stop on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Monday (September 8), killing six people in what police described as "a terrorist attack," one of the deadliest in the city in the past few years.

Jerusalem

Palestinian gunmen kill six at Jerusalem bus stop

U.S. President Donald Trump said he was ready to hit Russia with a second phase of sanctions after its largest air attack on Ukraine in nearly four years of war. The assault on Saturday caused serious damage in Ukraine's capital, including to one of its most important government buildings.

Trump considering second phase of sanctions on Russia

A drone launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck southern Israel Sunday, hitting Ramon International Airport near Eilat and forcing a shutdown of airspace in the region.

Ilan and Asaf Ramon International Airport

Yemen’s Houthi rebels strike Israel's Ramon International Airport

Protests have erupted in Chicago after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a federal crackdown, including sending National Guard troops and expanding deportations.

Breakdown