26 Aug

Food Prices and Agriculture Affected By Climate Change, Study Predicts

Written by Jolene Borrelli
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Climate change is bound to affect food prices according to experts.

Climactic Change, a peer-reviewed scientific journal dedicated to monitoring the causes and effects of climate change, will release a study next month detailing potential changes to future global agricultural systems as a result of climate change. The study predicted food costs increasing by as much as 40% due to changing weather patterns.

Water distribution, soil moisture, trade patterns, production output, and harvested land area are all expected to affect food prices since food production itself is anticipated to drop 2% by 2050. Rises in global temperatures and carbon dioxide levels as well as access to fresh water are major factors in the change.

Outcomes of the changes, called SRES or Special Report on Emissions Scenarios, are explored within the study.

"The results show that national welfare is influenced both by regional climate change and climate-induced changes in competitiveness, " say the authors. "No matter which SRES is preferred, we find that the expected losses in welfare are significant."