内容摘要：A polar bear statue with painted beluga whales sits outside a gift shop, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

A polar bear statue with painted beluga whales sits outside a gift shop, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Storm clouds build as corn grows on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, near Platte City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Storm clouds build as corn grows on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, near Platte City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Todey said more study is necessary to understand how climate change will shape corn sweat, saying rainfall, crop variety and growing methods can all play a part.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 Seth Borenstein on X at

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CHURCHILL, Manitoba (AP) — When polar bears started coming to Churchill, tourists did too.And then suddenly, polar bears began to appear everywhere — from artwork to cushion covers and even on beer cans — as residents of this remote Canadian town on Hudson Bay embraced their title as polar bear capital of the world.