100 Scientists Warn: Food Prices Set To Skyrocket

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Climate change will exacerbate the price increase, shortage and affect the quality of food, according to a report released by United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The study was prepared by more than 100 scientists and was unanimously approved by diplomats from nations around the world at a meeting in Geneva.

The U.N report warned that food will become very expensive as the food supply continues to diminish at an alarming rate. 

“The stability of food supply is projected to decrease as the magnitude and frequency of extreme weather events that disrupt food chains increases,” the report said.

According to the study, droughts, flooding, extreme weather disturbances, higher temperatures and permafrost thaw have adversely affected food production. 

The quality of food has also been compromised by the increasing amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

However, as grim as the prognosis, one of the lead authors said that the situation is not entirely hopeless. 

“One of the important findings of our work is that there are a lot of actions that we can take now. They’re available to us,” Pamela McElwee told The New York Times.

“What some of these solutions do require is attention, financial support, and enabling environments.”

Scientists also stated that if people changed the way they consume, produce food, and manage land resources, there will be enough supply to feed the world. 

For instance, people could help lessen carbon emissions by adopting no-till farming techniques while consumers can opt to eat more vegetables and less meat. 

The report also featured how the man-made climate change continues to severely damage the land. Likewise, the way people use the land is worsening the effects of global warming. 

According to the authors, this is a vicious cycle that needs to be altered now.

“The cycle is accelerating,” said NASA climate scientist Cynthia Rosenzweig, a report co-author. “The threat of climate change affecting people’s food on their dinner table is increasing.”

“The way we use land is both part of the problem and also part of the solution,” said Valerie Masson-Delmotte, a French climate scientist who co-chairs one of the panel’s working groups.

“Sustainable land management can help secure a future that is comfortable.”

Scientists in a Thursday conference stressed the importance of acting and making changes soon. 

“We don’t want a message of despair,” said science panel official Jim Skea, a professor at Imperial College London. “We want to get across the message that every action makes a difference”

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