Articles | Volume 16, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-2187-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-2187-2025
Research article
 | 
05 Dec 2025
Research article |  | 05 Dec 2025

The preseason warming of the Indian Ocean resulting in soybean failure in US

Menghan Li, Xichen Li, Yi Zhou, and Yurong Hou

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Cited articles

Anderson, W., Seager, R., Baethgen, W., and Cane, M.: Crop production variability in North and South America forced by life-cycles of the El Niño Southern Oscillation, Agric. For. Meteorol., 239, 151–165, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2017.03.008, 2017a. 
Anderson, W., Seager, R., Baethgen, W., and Cane, M.: Life cycles of agriculturally relevant ENSO teleconnections in North and South America, Int. J. Climatol., 37, 3297–3318, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.4916, 2017b. 
Anderson, W. B., Seager, R., Baethgen, W., Cane, M., and You, L.: Synchronous crop failures and climate-forced production variability, Sci. Adv., 5, eaaw1976, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw1976, 2019. 
Cao, J., Zhang, Z., Tao, F., Chen, Y., Luo, X., and Xie, J.: Forecasting global crop yields based on El Nino Southern Oscillation early signals, Agric. Syst., 205, 103564, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2022.103564, 2023. 
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Warming in the Indian Ocean during the preceding winter can cause hotter, drier U.S. summers and reduce soybean yields. Our study reveals that temperature changes in the Indian Ocean explain 16 % of variations in U.S. soybean yields. This happens because warmer ocean waters disrupt atmospheric patterns, lowering soil moisture and increasing summer heat during critical growth stages, stressing soybean plants. Understanding this link helps improve crop risk forecasts and protect food security.
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