Climate Crisis Is Triggering Global Food Shortages - New Predictions Are Devastating
About this episode
The episode discusses the devastating impact of the climate crisis on global food production and the potential for social unrest due to food shortages.
Episode 386 The climate crisis is having a significant impact on yields of crucial food crops. Losses of maize, wheat and soybeans alone are costing $20 billion a year due to heat and drought. New estimates expect this to rise to $160 billion per year by 2100 - although that could be an underestimate. While this means food prices will keep on rising in developed countries, the majority of the population in the world’s least developed regions work in farming, so crop losses have the potential to destabilise them, creating social unrest and increased migration. But beyond getting emissions under control, do we need to completely rethink how we produce food globally in order to combat this? Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet are joined by Michael Le Page to discuss this new prediction and the action needed to stop it coming true. To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
People in this episode
Hosts: Rowan Hooper, Penny Sarchet
Guest: Michael Le Page
Topics covered
- climate crisis
- food shortages
- crop yields
- social unrest
- migration
- agriculture
- economic impact
Keywords
- climate crisis
- food shortages
- crop yields
- economic impact
- social unrest
- migration
- agriculture
- emissions
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: New Scientist
Places: developed countries, world’s least developed regions
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