Climate Crisis-Driven Hunger Could Spread

Climate change threatens one-third of global food production

May 14, 2021 (Science Daily)

Climate change is known to negatively affect agriculture and livestock…[New research finds that if carbon dioxide emissions continue growing at current rates,] rapid, out-of-control growth of greenhouse gas emissions may, by the end of the century, lead to more than a third of current global food production falling into conditions in which no food is produced…[Those areas where 95% of crop production currently takes place require] a combination of three climate factors, rainfall, temperature and aridity…

Changes in rainfall and aridity as well as the warming climate are especially threatening to food production in South and Southeast Asia as well as the Sahel region of Africa. These are also areas that lack the capacity to adapt to changing conditions…Two future scenarios for climate change were used in the study: one in which carbon dioxide emissions are cut radically, limiting global warming to 1.5-2 degrees Celsius, and another in which emissions continue growing unhalted…

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…[They considered how climate change would affect 27 of the most important food crops and seven different livestock…[I]n 52 of the 177 countries studied, [including most of Europe,] the entire food production would remain in the safe climatic space…[Already vulnerable countries, including Benin, Cambodia, and Ghana,] will be hit hard…[Up] to 95 percent of current food production would fall outside of safe climatic space…

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In all, 20% of the world's crop production and 18% of livestock production [is] under threat…[T]he boreal forest, which stretches across northern North America, Russia and Europe -- would shrink from its current 18.0 to 14.8 million square kilometres by 2100…[and only] 8 million square kilometres of the vast forest would remain…[In North America,] it may shrink to one-third…[Arctic tundra] is estimated to disappear completely…” click here for more

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