Just in case you were wondering how climate change would affect our food supply, here’s your answer: it could make food much more expensive.
Due to drought and record-breaking high temperatures in the areas of the country growing most of our corn and soybeans, economists are saying we should expect to see food prices spike in the coming months. A rise in food prices this year would be the third one in just the last five years.
“We need rain, and it doesn’t look like we’re going to get it,” said Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes.
The United States is the world’s foremost exporter of corn, so what happens here will affect the rest of the world. And because wheat prices follow that of corn and both products are used for multiple purposes, the effects won’t be contained solely to those countries that directly consume these staple ingredients. The price of bread, chicken, pork, eggs, beef, and any other consumable utilizing corn or wheat will go up, which could cause civil unrest among those communities hardest hit. “It’s a tinderbox over there,” says Hayes about China. “It’s not a real homogenous or pleasant society the way it’s structured right now. So there could be some issues.”
The recent severe drought conditions and heat waves are providing a glimpse into what life will be like as climate change accelerates. As severe weather patterns emerge in the future, we should expect (and prepare for) food prices to rise as we are unable to produce enough supply for the demand. Right now we are already having trouble meeting that demand; what will it be like in another 50 or 100 years once climate change takes hold?
[via VOA News]
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