Food costs more because of climate change – and it will get worse

Summary:

• Rising temperatures will drive up food inflation by between 0.9 and 3.2% a year by 2035
• Crop yields are suffering from extreme heat due to global warming
• Warming-fueled extreme weather is impacting food production worldwide
• If farmers don’t adapt, losses will become more serious as the world heats up

Quotes:

• According to a study done in collaboration with the European Central Bank, by 2035, higher temperatures alone will be pushing up worldwide food prices by between 0.9 and 3.2 per cent every single year. This will add between 0.3 and 1.2 per cent to overall inflation.
• “There’s often a sense of shock and surprise at the magnitude of these impacts,” says Maximilian Kotz at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, referring to his discussions with economists while doing the study.
• According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Food Price Index, the cost of food fell in real terms between 1960 and 2000, but has been rising since then.

Read the full post at New Scientist.