Provisional figures for global average temperatures show last year was the hottest without the influence of warming from El Niño. Kenya is named among the countries where rising temperatures threaten plant growth and yield, putting millions of farmers at risk. The Food and Agriculture Organization data shows Kenya is among the more than 100 countries that had an annual mean temperature change greater than one degree Celsius. “Together with changes in precipitation and increases in extreme events such as flooding and droughts, temperature change threatens countries’ food security, and their ability to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development,” FAO said in a statement. FAO used publicly available data from meteorological stations around to issue of world temperature change data by country, over the period 1961–2017, with respect to the 1951-1980 climatology. Help identify responses The FAO data shows that in 2017 more than 50 other countries had mean annual warming above 1.5ËšC. “Temperature change database can be used to illustrate the recent warming trends in countries, facilitating public understanding of the climate change challenges to agriculture, and helping to identify possible responses to minimise risk to food production,” FAO said. Rising temperatures do not necessarily lead to droughts. In Kenya some models show there will be more rains leading to increased flooding. Separately, the US’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration said the planet’s increased temperatures are driven by increased carbon dioxide emissions. Scientists from the UK’s University of East Anglia say when viewed alongside 2015 and 2016 – both of which were dominated by a significant El Niño – last year was the second or third warmest year for annual global temperatures since 1850. US non-profit think tank Copenhagen Consensus says the increased temperature’s should not necessary result in food shortage. The group has shown that research and development can increase productivity to a level far greater than the damage to agricultural productivity suggested by even the worst-case scenarios of the effects of global warming. For instance, investing an extra $88 billion in agricultural research and development over the next 32 years would increase yields by an additional 0.4 percentage points every year, which could save 79 million people from hunger and prevent five million cases of child malnourishment. This would be worth nearly $300 trillion in social good, implying an enormous return of $34 (Sh3,400) for every dollar spent.