内容摘要：Ukraine’s surprise thrust into Kursk and its ability to hold land there was a logistical feat, carried out in secrecy, that countered months of gloomy news from the front about Ukrainian forces being pushed backward by the bigger Russian army.

Ukraine’s surprise thrust into Kursk and its ability to hold land there was a logistical feat, carried out in secrecy, that countered months of gloomy news from the front about Ukrainian forces being pushed backward by the bigger Russian army.

But for Lew Ziska, an associate professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University who has studied the effects of climate change on crops, warmer conditions mean more transpiration. Asked whether more corn sweat is an effect of climate change, he said simply, “Yes.”He also noted increasing demand for corn to go into ethanol. Over 40% of corn grown in the U.S. is turned into biofuels that are eventually guzzled by cars and sometimes even planes. The global production of ethanol has been steadily increasing with the exception of a dip during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to

Storm clouds build above a corn field Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, near Platte City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Storm clouds build above a corn field Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, near Platte City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)The consumption of ethanol also contributes to planet-warming emissions.

“It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that it’s been getting hotter. And as a result of it getting hotter, plants are losing more water,” Ziska said.Follow Melina Walling on X at

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for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas atMiners work at the D4 Gakombe coltan quarry in Rubaya, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Miners work at the D4 Gakombe coltan quarry in Rubaya, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)People walk through the town near the coltan mining quarry in Rubaya, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

People walk through the town near the coltan mining quarry in Rubaya, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)Two women stand together in the town near the coltan mining quarry in Rubaya, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)