Dr. Conca reports that one in every nine people in the world go hungry every day. That amounts to 821 million people. But we produce enough food to feed all 7.5 billion people on Earth today. This is because the food we produce is not equitably distributed across the world’s population. Whether it’s war and conflict, climate change and extreme weather events, the downward spiral of poverty and poor nutrition, bad government and economic policies, or gender inequality, most of the reasons for hunger and famine are the fault of humans.
And the number of people who are hungry has begun increasing again after decades of decline, mostly in Africa, southern Asia and South America.The form of government alone is strongly associated with famines, shown in the figure below. The latest example is the Assad regime in Syria, whose mishandling of a years-long drought led to their devastating civil war. Famines are almost unknown in democracies. The UN’s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report found that climate variability affecting rainfall patterns and agricultural seasons, and climate extremes such as droughts and floods, are among the key drivers behind the rise in hunger, together with conflict and economic recessions.
Increasing climate variability and weather extremes are negatively affecting all dimensions of food security - food availability, access, utilization and stability - as well as reinforcing other underlying causes of malnutrition related to child care and feeding, health services and environmental health.
The number of extreme events, including extreme heat, droughts, floods and storms, has doubled since the early 1990s, with an average of 213 of these events occurring every year during the last 30 years (see figure). These events mostly hit those countries that have the most hungry people. It is important to note that yields for most staple crops decrease with increasing peak seasonal temperatures.
Better agricultural practices need to be a priority for adapting and mitigating climate changes. The challenge is to increase agricultural production in ways that are both more sustainable for enabling healthy diets and more climate-resilient, while at the same time reducing emissions.
Increasing use of climate-adapted crops, whether GMO or not, is essential. As is smart and computer-aided farming practices that conserve water and increase yields. As is increased access to energy and electricity. Global assistance for deploying solar, wind and small modular nuclear (SMRs) will be crucial.
Read on.
Original working URL: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2019/03/26/a-warmer-world-is-a-hungrier-world/#e478726660a5
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