As our climate shifts and changes, our food supplies may be in danger. Now, a new UN report has shown that global warming may already be causing irreversible damage to nature that could disrupt the world's supply of food, according to Reuters.
Climate change is often viewed on a global scale, an many people see it as something that will happen far in the future. However, the new report reveals that the big risks and overall effects of global warming are far more immediate and local than you might think, according to NBC News. Disease, drought, flooding, and hunger are all problems that will have to be dealt with.
"Climate change throughout the 21st century will lead to increases in ill-health in many regions, as compared to a baseline without climate change," stated the report, according to The Guardian. "Examples include greater likelihood of injury, disease, and death due to more intense heatwaves and fires; increased likelihood of under-nutrition resulting from diminished food production in poor regions; and increased risks from food-born and water-borne disease."
Already we're seeing changes in the world. Coral reefs and Arctic ecosystem are experiencing irreversible changes. A mere warming of 2.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels could impact economic incomes of nations, according to Reuters. While governments have agreed to help limit warming to less than 2 degrees, though, temperatures have already risen to about .8 degrees C.
Most notably is the fact that global food prices will rise. This, in particular, will have ripple effects across the globe. The report estimates that prices will rise between 3 and 84 percent by 2050 due to warmer temperatures and changes in rain patterns, according to NBC News.
Scientist and more than 100 governments will meet in Japan from March 25 to 29 to look at, edit and approve the new report.
