The American Midwest and South is suffering under the hottest weather in the history of recorded weather in the United States.

Twenty-twelve is so far the hottest years ever recorded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, whose records date back to 1895.

The United States government has said we should expect higher food prices in 2013 as a result of the most severe drought in the American Midwest in the last 50 years and a little more.

In the above video Tim Wise is interviewed by Real News. Tim is the policy research director at Tufts University Global Development and Environment Institute. He's the coauthor of the policy report Resolving the Global Food Crisis: Assessing Global Policy Reforms Since July 2007. Thanks for joining us, Tim.