Russia’s war created a global hunger disaster; climate crisis is ramping up

Published 2022년 6월 8일

Tridge summary

The article highlights the escalating global food crisis, driven by the intersection of the Ukraine conflict, which has disrupted main wheat-growing regions, and the adverse impacts of climate change on crop yields. The UN reports a doubling of severely food insecure people within two years, with the number expected to reach 49 million if necessary price reductions are not met. The article also discusses the potential for diversifying the global food system through supporting small-scale farmers and promoting agroecological methods, which could make food production more resilient to these crises.

Additionally, the article touches on the historical high prices of wheat, influenced by the war, and the challenges faced by the United States in wheat and rice production due to droughts and excess rain, respectively. These issues are further complicated by the geopolitical organization of food production and the profit margins of large corporations. The UN's call for diversifying the food system and the potential of agroecological practices to enhance resilience underscores the need for a shift in strategies to address the complex challenges of food security in a changing climate and global political landscape.
Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

This story was originally published by Mother Jones and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Back in February, Russia invaded Ukraine, turning Europe’s main wheat-growing region — a key source of grain and cooking oil for the Middle East and Africa — into a war zone. Global food prices had already been rising steadily for a year, pushed up by supply chain snarls brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. The war sent them soaring anew, to the highest levels since 1961, when the United Nations began tracking. On top of this, global public-health authorities warn that weather extremes related to climate change are wilting crops and shrinking harvests in alarming ways — setting the stage for what could be the worst hunger crisis in generations. At a meeting of the United Nations on May 18, Secretary-General António Guterres reported that the number of “severely food insecure people” had doubled in just two years, from 135 million before the pandemic to 276 million ...

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