РоманЗаворотный/Adobe Stock
You’ve probably already noticed that the prices of many foods in your grocery basket have increased significantly. In the UK, the price of white potatoes has increased by 20% in the past year, carrots by 38% and olive oil by 40%. And while that means the cost of putting together a roast dinner has soared, specialty items have also seen an even bigger price increase, with you now paying almost twice as much for a few chocolate bars. It will be.
The drivers of price increases are complex, but one of the biggest drivers is climate change. In the short term, extreme weather caused by global warming is having a devastating impact on producers. For example, in Northern Europe, heavy rains in the spring of 2024 left fields too waterlogged to harvest vegetables or plant new crops. Meanwhile, Morocco, which normally exports many vegetables to Europe, experienced a drought and ran out of water for irrigation. As a result, the prices of potatoes and carrots have soared.
As average global temperatures rise by 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels in the coming years, heat waves, droughts and extreme storms will become more common and intense, causing major disruptions to food production. It will be. But current efforts to compensate for the effects of crop failures, such as clearing forests to grow more crops, are exacerbating many other problems, from biodiversity loss to rising carbon dioxide levels. I am. Are we underestimating the magnitude of the impact, when it’s already happening to so many foods? If so, what can we do about it?
