A new study has suggested that as many as 500,000 people may die across the globe by 2050 owing to food scarcity caused by climate change. The findings of the study undertaken by researchers at the University of Oxford is significant because it is the first study that projects the number of deaths owing to dietary changes due to global warming.
Findings of the study published in the renowned medical journal The Lancelet is based on the effect of climate change on the health of adults in 155 nations by the year 2050, provided not action is initiated to reduce emission of poisonous gasses globally. The scientists noted that initiating steps to stabilize the climate would also help to lessen the number of deaths owing to the impact of climate on people’s diet between 29 percent and 71 percent, subject to the strictness of the actions initiated, Business Green reported.
According to Dr. Marco Springmann, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of Oxford, all earlier studies undertaken on climate impacts have explored food security, but hardly focused on the broader effects on humans’ health due to the projected changes in agricultural production.
The new findings reveal that even a modest decline availability of food for each person may result in changes in the diet compositions and energy content. All such changes will have significant health effects.
Though the study projected an increase in food availability in spite of climate change, it stated that global warming may lower the pace of food availability by 2050 by as much as 33 percent resulting in three percent or 99kcal cutback in general in the food available to every person on an average.
Significantly, the study also found that there will be a slight reduction in red meat consumption, which alone may be responsible for an estimated 30,000 deaths, as people would be deprived of the health benefits offered by red mead.
At the same time, the study found that global warming will also lead to about 4 percent decline in vegetable and fruit consumption. The estimated consumption of fruits and vegetables will mostly affect people residing in developing nation, especially in Southeast Asia and the West Pacific.
To a certain extent, it will also affect a section of people in developed nations. On the other hand, the study noted that decline in food may also prevent as many as 260,000 obesity-related deaths. However, there will be an additional 266,000 deaths owing to malnourishment caused by climate change.
