David David Lobell and Chris Field released a report in the Environmental Research Letters journal on March 16, 2007 announcing that rising global temperatures are causing the loss of roughly 40 million tons of corn, wheat and barley production each year. Although yields in general are climbing due to technological improvements, higher temperatures have held yield potential down. "A key moving forward is how well cropping systems can adapt to a warmer world," Lobell said. "Investments in this area could potentially save billions of dollars and millions of lives."