More than 150 recipients of the Nobel and World Food prizes have released an open letter calling for a dramatic increase in research and a commitment to new food distribution efforts.

A NASA climate research scientist who has spent much of her career explaining how global food production systems must adapt to a changing climate was awarded the World Food Prize at a ceremony at the U.S. Department of State in Washington.

GENEVA - Human-caused climate change is dramatically degrading the Earth's land and the way people use the land is making global warming worse, a new United Nations scientific report says. While heat-trapping gases are causing problems in the atmosphere, the land has been less talked about as part of climate change. The report said climate change already has worsened land degradation, caused deserts to grow, permafrost to thaw and made forests more vulnerable to drought, fire, pests and disease. Climate change has also added to the forces that have reduced the number of species on Earth. "Climate change is really slamming the land," said World Resources Institute researcher Kelly Levin, who wasn't part of the study.