Arguments
2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #28
Posted on 11 July 2020 by John Hartz
Editor's Choice
Think Covid-19 Disrupted the Food Chain? Wait and See What Climate Change Will Do
The pandemic has revealed deep flaws in the world’s food system and food leaders are calling for global coordination and climate resilient agriculture.
Photo by Paddy Walker on Unsplash
In the months since Covid-19 convulsed the globe, the world's food system has undergone a stress test—and largely failed it.
The pandemic disrupted global supply chains, induced panic buying and cleared supermarket shelves. It left perfectly edible produce rotting in fields, and left farmers no choice but to gas, shoot and bury their livestock because slaughter plants were shut down.
It also revealed a glaring problem: Though researchers have known for decades that climate change will roil farming and food systems, there exists no clear global strategy for building resilience and managing risks in the world's food supply, nor a coherent way to tackle the challenge of feeding a growing global population, on a warming planet where food crises are projected to intensify.
"We need to make sure food is safe, nutritious and sustainable, not just for today but for the future," said Emily Broad Leib, director of the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic. "There's growing acknowledgement that this has been something that's not been addressed in a coordinated way."
Click here to access the entire article as originally posted on the InsideClimate New website.
Think Covid-19 Disrupted the Food Chain? Wait and See What Climate Change Will Do by Georgina Gustin, InsideClimate News, July 7, 2020
Articles Linked to on Facebook
Sun, July 5, 2020
- Risk of 40C heat in the UK ‘rapidly increasing’, says Met Office by Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, June 30, 2020
- Big nations aid fossil fuels more than clean energies amid pandemic, researchers find by Alister Doyle & Megan Darby, Climate Home News, July 3, 2020
- Stop making sense: why it's time to get emotional about climate change by Rebecca Huntley, Environment, Guardian, July 4, 2020
- Democrats’ infrastructure bill has a special delivery: Electric mail trucks by David Robert, Energy & Environment, Vox, June 26, 2020
Mon, July 6, 2020
- Amazon fires at 13-year high for June, BBC News, July 2, 2020
- Algae turns Italian Alps pink, prompting concerns over melting, Agence France-Presse, Guardian, July 5, 2020
- How ‘discourses of delay’ are used to slow climate action, Guest Post by William F Lamb, Carbon Brief, July 6, 2020
- Norway sets electric car record as battery autos least dented by Covid-19 crisis by Alister Doyle, Climate Home News, July 2, 2020
Tue, July 7, 2020
- Climate Change Litigants Argue Human Rights, Consumer Harm in Suing Oil Firms by Matthew Green, Valerie Volcovici & Emma Farge, Reuters, Insurance Journal, July 6, 2020
- Climate Denial Spreads on Facebook as Scientists Face Restrictions by Scott Waldman, E&E News, Scientific American, July 6. 2020
- Tropical storm Edouard is fifth named storm of 2020, earliest such Atlantic storm on record by Jeff Masters, Eye on the Storm, Yale Climate Connections, July 6, 2020
- Even if we start to fix climate change, the proof may not show up for 30 years by Chris Mooney & Brady Dennis, Climate & Environment, Washington Post, July 7, 2020
Wed, July 8, 2020
- How inequality grows in the aftermath of hurricanes by SueEllen Campbell, Article, Yale Climate Connections, July 2, 2020
- The scariest thing about global warming (and Covid-19) by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, July 7, 2020
- Unprecedented heat in Siberia pushed planet to warmest June on record, tied with last year by Matthew Cappucci, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, July 7, 2020
- How America’s hottest city will survive climate change by Sarah Kaplan, Climate Solutions, Washington Post, July 8, 2020
Thu, July 9, 2020
- Intense Arctic Wildfires Set a Pollution Record by Somini Sengupta, Climate, New YorK Times. Jiuy 7. 2020
- Wireless Technology Could Help Climate-Proof the Internet by Daniel Cusick, E&E News, Scientific American, July 3, 2020
- Japan is reeling from devastating rains and flooding, with more on the way by Matthew Cappucci & Jason Samenow, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, July 8, 2020
- In Parched Southwest, Warm Spring Renews Threat of ‘Megadrought’ by Henry Fountain, Climate, New York Times, July 8, 2020
Fri, July 10, 2020
- At last, a climate policy platform that can unite the left by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, July 9, 2020
- New climate report highlights 'enormous challenge ahead' for meeting Paris Agreement goals by Denise Chow, Climate in Crisis, NBC News, July 9, 2020
- Spreading rock dust on fields could remove vast amounts of CO2 from air by Damian Carrington, Environment, Guardian, July 8, 2020
- Worrisome Signs Emerge for 1.5-Degree-C Climate Target by Chelsea Harvey, E&E News, Scientific American, July 10, 2020
Sat, July 11, 2020
- The next energy battle: Renewables vs. natural gas by Ivan Penn, Business, New York Times, July 6, 2020
- Beyond the “silver lining” of emissions reductions: Clean energy takes a COVID-19 hit by Kate S Petersen, Environmental Health News, July 9. 2020
- Scientists discover new ‘human fingerprint’ on global drought patterns by Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, July 6, 2020
- Think Covid-19 Disrupted the Food Chain? Wait and See What Climate Change Will Do by Georgina Gustin, InsideClimate News, July 7, 2020
Useful article on covid 19, but I actually thought the global food supply chain generally held up quite well during the covid 19 problem. Nobody went hungry in New Zealand, although some imported foods were off the shelves for a short period. The main problem appeared to be panic buying. Yes America has more infections than us on a per capita basis and closed some meat works due to illness, but I'm not aware of anyone going seriously hungry specifically due to supply issues?
It's true that the globalised system with a lot of imported food might create dependence and problems in a crisis, but if you tried to make your country totally self sufficient in food, and you own internal supply chain failed you would be in an equally problematic situation, and reliant on begging from the globalised system. I'm just saying we shouldn't knock globalisation, and there are certainly ways to ensure countries help each other if we want.
Climate change is arguably a lot worse than Covid 19, because it is an absolute threat to food production and much longer term. Yeah sure genetic engineering may increase food production, and counter some of this but we don't really know, and we are expending effort to fix a climate induced food production problem, effort that could be better directed at other issues.
"Cases of child malnutrition in England double in last six months
Almost 2,500 children admitted to hospitals in England suffering malnutrition in 2020"
www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/12/cases-of-child-malnutrition-double-in-last-six-months
"Cases of child malnutrition in England double in last six months"
Useful article from the Guardian, but this is not a problem with the food supply chain as such. The article plainly states families are struggling to afford food due to the lockdown situation (job losses, and reduced wages etcetera).