You might have heard about the intense weather conditions experts mentioned on Friday. Nothing new right? It is something we talk about every year, we get warnings over and over again, but some of us do not really take seriously. It turns out that we should, because extreme weather conditions are going to shape our world in the following years.
American and British experts confirmed that heat waves, droughts and storms are going to make food scarce. Food shortages are going to be frequent and while we had to deal with them once every century, it looks like we will have to deal with them once every 30 years.
Experts did not make these assumptions just to simply raise awareness, they can see the trouble that is ahead of us based on having studied the world’s most important productions: soybean, rice, maize and wheat. They come from very few countries: India, U.S and China. So if these countries get hit by extreme weather conditions, the entire globe is affected.
The good news is that the more interconnected the world’s major producers are, the less local productions have to worry about, but the bad news is that the zones we know as “breadbasket” regions will have to face a greater shock than the rest of the world.
The report encouraged the creation of well-designed modelling methods which could help predict what supplies would be in danger and where. Also, it would be advisable to identify which are the strongest market points and diminish their local power.
There have also been numerous suggestions to improve agriculture, enhance its adaptation to climate change and make it more resistant to extreme weather. However these suggestion often pass by either unheard or unable to be implemented. There is great need for increased productivity and that agriculture be ready to face the world’s food demands.
The world that we live in is growing very fast and we are faced with two major issues: the planet is getting hotter and hotter while the population is getting bigger and bigger.
Specialists declared on Friday that we should expect droughts every 7 years out of 10. Moreover, we have been warned last week that the planet’s population is expected to increase up to 11.2 billion by the end of 2100, so we are looking at a situation that seems to be getting out of control rather quickly.
Either way, it is a must that we find a solution to either slow down and stop global warming or increase food production and meet the required demands. We need to find a solution and we need to act fast.
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