We all noticed: in recent years Food prices have increased dramaticallyand not only in Italy. But What does the climatic crisis have to do with it With this phenomenon? The clearly explained it Professor Christoph Gurott, agronomist of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, which in an interview has analyzed how extreme weather events are influencing agricultural production and, consequently, food inflation.
To ÖKO-TESTthe expert explained in no uncertain terms that the increase in temperatures, caused by global warming, is already having a direct impact on the price of food. With climate change, agricultural production, already in itself very sensitive to atmospheric conditions, is becoming increasingly vulnerable. As a result, consumers are seeing the prices of food products that use daily.
Gurott said:
The highest temperatures could increase food inflation by 3.2% every year until 2035 and the total increase in prices by 1.18%. We estimate that the only wave of extreme heat of 2022 has increased food inflation in Europe by 0.6%. The global warming expected by 2035 could increase these impacts by 50%.
Some foods begin to scarce
The scarcity of some key foods is already a reality. Products like olive oil, cocoa, fruit and even coffee They are increasingly difficult to find due to extreme climatic events.
Gurott mentions the case of coffee, which is undergoing serious losses in countries such as Brazil and Vietnam due to frost and drought out of season. The quality of the crops is compromised, and the fluctuations of global demand are causing prices to rise.
In particular, coffee crops, which already face a growing question, are decreasing in quantities and quality. This could lead to one reduction of the varieties of coffee available in supermarketswith the consequent increase in costs and a change in the taste of final products.
We had already talked about it in a previous article: to discover the varieties of coffee that risk disappearing forever
This scenario is part of a context of scarcity that affects several other fundamental foods, such as olive oil and cocoa, whose prices are destined to rise with the intensification of extreme climatic events.
Climate change affects food production all over the world
The impact of climate change is not limited to the warmer regions, but is also touching more northern latitudes, such as Germany, where the fruit harvest has undergone serious damage due to late frosts and unfavorable rains.
The crisis is not just a matter of high temperatures. The phenomenon includes a combination of conditions: drought, aridity and irregular rains, which are making the crops vulnerable all over the world.
The Mediterranean regions, for example, are seeing an increase in the costs for olive oil, and the same happens in California and Florida, where orange crops have been lost due to unfavorable weather conditions.
The expert said:
Climate change has undergone acceleration. Over the past 20 years the global average temperatures have beaten 20 records. In 2024, for the first time, the average annual temperature will be 1.5 degrees higher than the pre -industrial era. All this will continue to have an impact. We will see other extremes. The lack and increase in prices will continue to increase in the next 10-15 years.
Information on the packaging as “This product is subject to fluctuations during the harvest“They could instruct and sensitize consumers. Some companies, explains Gornott, They are already doing it.
We must also collaborate with the farmers of the Region to create more resilient systems, so that they can survive the impacts of climate change.
Is there hope that the situation is better?
Not everything is lost. According to Gurott, there are solutions and strategies that can help mitigate the effects of the crisis. Agroforestation, which combines trees and crops, offers greater shadow, better water retention of the soil and an intake of nutrients, making agricultural systems more resistant to climatic extremes. In addition, the current research to develop varieties of more resilient crops, such as libertic coffee, could be a solution to cope with climate change.
However, it is not enough. Agricultural and commercial policies must be adapted to this new reality, with greater support for farmers who must face difficult conditions. Gurnott concludes with an appeal to politics, so that funds are allocated to promote agricultural resilience, given that the losses deriving from doing nothing in the face of climate change are clearly higher than the costs of a sensible adaptation.
In practice, the expert reminds us that perhaps we underestimate a crucial problem: LAt climatic crisis it is profoundly changing our ability to produce food in sufficient quantities and affordable prices. While the costs continue to rise and the crops become more uncertain, it seems more and clearer that we will have to adapt to a new scenario, unless far -sighted policies, agricultural innovations and greater awareness by consumers are unable to change things.
