Climate change will shift planet’s rain belt, threatening food security for billions, scientists say

Uneven shifting is likely to worsen flooding in southern India while worsening droughts in southeastern Africa and Madagascar, as Tom Embury-Dennis explains.

Flood rescue operations, such as this one in the southern Indian state of Kerala in 2019, could become more common as climate change shifts the global ‘rain belt’

(AFP/Getty Images)

The climate emergency will dramatically shift the globe’s tropical rain belt, threatening the food security of billions of people, experts have said.  

Scientists found the rain belt – a narrow band of heavy precipitation near the equator – will move north in the eastern hemisphere, but southwards in the western hemisphere.  

According to the study by researchers at the University of California and other institutions, this uneven shifting of the band will likely cause increasing flooding in southern India as well as worsening droughts in southeastern Africa and Madagascar.