PubMed · 2026-05-14
Simultaneous droughts and heatwaves across Australia's grain-growing regions have intensified sharply since the 2000s, and researchers have now linked these compounding climate extremes to measurable drops in wheat and barley yields — particularly in Victoria, Tasmania, and New South Wales.
The frequency, severity, and geographic spread of combined drought-heatwave events increased sharply after 2000, with hotspots in western and eastern Australia during August–February.
Statistically significant negative correlations were found between these compound events and crop yields, including wheat and barley in Southern and Eastern Victoria (r = −0.49 and −0.45 respectively) and Central North Victorian barley (r = −0.41).
Several major yield decline years since 2003 aligned directly with periods of high compound drought-heatwave frequency and severity across Australian cereal-growing regions.
