Today is January 2, 2024.
Have you ever thought that global warming, which has altered weather patterns across the planet, could lead to the extinction of some of your favorite and basic foods?
Bananas, avocados, grapes (wines), coffees, cocoa (chocolates), and maybe rice, for example. Due to the higher temperatures and water issues. See here the monitoring that the World Bank does on these and other types of commodities.
As the climate changes, so will the ability of farmers to grow their crops and food in the quantities that many of us are accustomed to today. This means that in the coming years many of the products we are used to seeing in supermarkets today could begin to disappear. Or become more expensive on an ongoing basis.
Remember that the population on Earth was around 2 billion people around 1940 and today it is 4 times larger. For the same size of planet, our only “Planet A”.
Let's look at some cases, mentioned in a Euronews article.
Coffee. The most popular drink in the world, 2 billion cups consumed daily. Reduction of areas favorable for cultivation and high temperatures leading to certain types of pests.
Cocoa (chocolate). See the story behind the image below. Very particular growing conditions, especially temperature.
Banana and Avocado. Both very popular fruits and important dietary sources of potassium. Both the issue of water, the ideal temperature range, and the availability of cultivation areas at the same speed as population growth (mentioned above) are major challenges. In addition to certain types of pests that develop at high temperatures, especially in monocultures.
Grapes (wines). Read these articles for example:
- "Viticulture in Argentina under extreme weather scenarios: Actual challenges, future perspectives"
As much as there is talk about the urgent need for the energy transition, "between the lines" the biggest concern is water and food, something that affects all living beings, regardless of whether it is a large country, full of industries and forests, or a small one, like a tourist tropical island or uninhabited in Alaska. Remember the takeaway from our first COP-28 diary"COP28 Diary, Carbon Credit Markets Special: 30 November 2023". In fact, those daily takeways summarize many of these "between the lines" during COP-28, allowing our readers to focus not on the issues, but "on the focus of the issues".
On the other hand, and no less important, global warming could open new agricultural frontiers. Never thought about it? So remember our September 2023 post "Carbon World News: Canada and Russian Federation".
And finally something for you to think about: how much water is needed to raise a single chicken, and therefore a fillet or nuggets? And between protein and water, which was worth more in the 1940s? And what about 10 years from now?
Click on the image below for a Euronews article from September 2021, still very relevant. (This article is an update to what we originally posted at that time).
Regarding the image, it is a photo from Carbon Credit Markets from the last COP-28. A 100g chocolate bar, the label of which stated:
“The Change Chocolate. Store at maximum 1.5°C. This chocolate was produced at 1.2°C/420 ppm*. Why the world needs a trillion trees? Read inside.” And inside, an interesting text, with references to the following portal: www.plant-for-the-planet.org . "COP28 Diary, 9th December 2023, Carbon Credit Markets Special."
* Note. 1.2°C refers to how far we are from the Paris Agreement target ("...hold global temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels...") and 420 ppm indicates the current level of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere.
