Warmer conditions will pose new challenges for producers of Americans’ favorite side dish but advance knowledge and innovation will help potato growers prepare.

Weather and climate occur on different scales of time and space, and depend on different aspects of Earth's environment. Weather describes atmospheric conditions at a particular time and place. Climate is the overall statistical characteristics of weather and environmental conditions, such as long-term averages and ranges of variability, for a given place and season.

Yes, there will probably be some short-term and long-term positive benefits from global warming, but the negative costs and impacts of continued global warming are very likely to far outweigh the positive benefits over the course of this century.

From heat-related illness, to the spread of pests and pathogens into new areas, to the accumulation of toxins in seafood, global warming is likely to have serious impacts on public health. 

Potential effects of global warming include sea level rise, more frequent and more extreme heat waves, intensification of wet and dry regional climate patterns.

Considering some locations experience temperature swings of 30°F or more in a single day, warming of 1.8°F (1°C) might seem small, but Earth's annual temperatures are very stable when climate isn't changing.