Giving Compass' Take:

• Using information and research on how plants sense and detect warmth, scientists are trying to breed crops that can adapt to the rising temperatures caused by climate change. 

• How can donors help the agricultural system survive with impending climate change causes? How can philanthropists fund projects and organizations that are striving to help our environment?

• Learn about fighting climate change on farms. 

We know that migration linked to climate change transcends species. As the oceans get warmer, fish are looking for cooler waters to call home. Diseases are spreading to regions previously inhospitable to them. And the United Nations estimates that at least 25 million people will be displaced by deteriorating environmental conditions by 2050.

Plants are on the move, too. As weather patterns shift, so do our botanical brethren—in their own way—dying in places where they are native, and thriving in places that were previously too harsh. That’s why corn farmers in Kansas are facing unprecedented crop failures, while farmers in Canada are now able to plant it. (On its website, the Canadian government notes that global warming will beget “opportunities” for more “profitable” agriculture.)

But how do plants know when it’s time to grow elsewhere?

The answer may lie in a recent discovery that reveals how they sense temperature.

Read the full article on breeding crops to withstand climate change by Jessica Fu at The New Food Economy.