On Friday, British and American experts gave a warning that would impact the world. According to them, the Earth would be experiencing severe "food shocks" since extreme weather, such as droughts, heatwaves and intense storms are getting to be more frequent.
Severe "food shocks" are extreme food shortages that take place as the global climate and food supply systems change.
According to Nature World Report, a food shock is the drop in the supply of four of the world's major crops - corn, soy, rice and wheat - anywhere between 5 to 7 percent. In the current state of the world's climate, severe "food shocks" are predicted to happen once every century. However, with the increasingly extreme weather conditions and the strain on the food supply, experts predictions say these severe "food shocks" could take place as often as every 30 years.
"The chance of having a weather-related food shock is increasing, and the size of that shock is also increasing," according to Tim Benton, a professor of population ecology at Leeds University. Benton presented the report on the "food shocks", as commissioned by the British government.
"And as these events become more frequent, the imperative for doing something about it becomes even greater," he added.
According to The Financial Express, experts looked at the production of the four commodity crops and how the extreme weather conditions would impact their supply in the future. Because most of the production of the four crops come from a limited number of countries, extreme weather in these regions - United States, China and India - would hold a great impact on food supplies.
The US and the UK are certainly vulnerable to these severe "food shocks" brought on by climate change, but the harrowing possibility would reportedly mostly affect developing countries. In these countries supplies are limited to begin with and extreme weather conditions are more frequent.
According to Nature World Report, the report said that the poorest households are the ones most likely to be affected by the severe "food shocks." These households spend as much as 50 percent of their income on food alone, and if food prices rise 50 to 100 percent, people in these households would be in an "untenable," position, researchers say.
The researchers also said that if climate change were to continue at its current rate, severe "food shocks" could become common as soon as 2070.
According to the report, it is recommended that international contingency plans and better modelling methods are developed in order to predict accurately the effects of supply fall and minimise them. The report also said that the agriculture industry should do more to adapt to the severe climate changes and become more resilient in the face of such weather conditions. At the same time, the industry should also be able to increase productivity and meet global demand for food that increases by the day, according to Reuters.
It may also be important to note that in order to avoid these severe "food shocks" in general, the root of the problem, which is global warming, should be addressed.
