Severe flooding is increasingly damaging global rice yields, slashing production by millions of tons and threatening food security for billions. Credit: Shutterstock Intense flooding has significantly reduced rice harvests around the world in recent decades, putting at risk the food supply of billions of people who rely on the grain as a dietary staple. Between 1980 and 2015, annual losses averaged about 4.3%, or roughly 18 million tons of rice each year, according to Stanford University