The Impact of Climate Change on Food Security
Week 6 Assignment - The Impact of Climate Change on Food Security
Overview
The United Nations (UN) has hired you as a consultant, and your task is to assess the impact that global warming is expected to have on population growth and the ability of societies in the developing world to ensure the adequate security of their food supplies.
Case Assessment
As the world’s population nears 10 billion by 2050, the effects of global warming are stripping some natural resources from the environment. As they diminish in number, developing countries will face mounting obstacles to improving the livelihoods of their citizens and stabilizing their access to enough food. The reason these governments are struggling even now is that our climate influences their economic health and the consequent diminishing living standards of their peoples. Climate changes are responsible for the current loss of biodiversity as well as the physical access to some critical farming regions. As such, these changes in global weather patterns diminish agricultural output and the distribution of food to local and international markets. These difficulties will become even more significant for these countries as the Earth’s climate changes for the worse. Temperatures are already increasing incrementally, and polar ice caps are melting, so the salient question is: what does this suggest for developing societies?
The issue before the developing world is not its lack of food, but rather how to gain access to food. Simply put, changes in our climate are affecting the global food chain, and hence, the living standards of entire populations. Added to this is the fact that food is not getting to where it is needed in time to prevent hunger or starvation. In many developing countries, shortages are due to governments’ control over distribution networks rather than an insufficient supply of food itself. In effect, these governments are weaponizing food by favoring certain ethnic or religious groups over others. When added to dramatic climate changes that we are experiencing even now, the future for billions of poor people looks increasingly dim.
Instructions
You are to write a minimum of a 5 page persuasive paper for the UN that addresses the following questions about the relationship between atmospheric weather patterns and food security in the developing world:
Climate change and global warming are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same phenomenon. What are the differences between the two concepts and what leads to the confusion between them?
In 1900, the average global temperature was about 13.7° Celsius (56.7° Fahrenheit) (Osborn, 2021), but as of 2020, the temperature has risen another 1.2°C to 14.9°C (58.9°F). According to the Earth and climate science community, if the Earth’s surface temperature rises another 2°C (3.6°F), we will suffer catastrophic weather patterns that, among other things, will raise sea levels, cause widespread droughts and wildfires, result in plant, insect, and animal extinctions, and reduce agricultural productivity throughout the world (Mastroianni, 2015 and Lindsey & Dahlman, 2020). How much credibility do you place in these projections? Why?
There is no question that the Earth’s food sources are threatened by changes in its weather patterns, but what specific challenges does climate change pose to the food security of people in the developing world?
There is currently a debate among some multinational lending agencies like the International Monetary Fund, UNICEF, and AID over the financial support for food security has been misused by recipient government officials. On the other hand, U.S. authorities insist that misuse of its assistance is not occurring because it has strict monitoring oversight in place. What is your position on this matter? Is there evidence that financial assistance to developing governments is being widely misused by government officials?
Guidelines
This course requires the use of Strayer Writing Standards (SWS). For assistance and information, please refer to the SWS link in the left-hand menu of your course and check with your professor for any additional instructions.
In order to earn full credit, your paper must be divided into at least four full pages of content (one page to address each of the four questions above), and include at least a one-half page introduction and a one-half page conclusion – making a minimum total of five full pages of text.
You must use at least seven credible sources (excluding Wikipedia, dictionaries, and encyclopedias) that are appropriate for the subjects under discussion.
You must use only double-spacing and not place extra spacing between paragraphs or section headings.
The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is as follows:
Evaluate the impacts that climate changes are having on the growth of global populations and the security of their food sources.
References
Liz Osborn. 2021. History of Changes in the Earth's Temperature. https://www(dot)currentresults(dot)com/Environment-Facts/changes-in-earth-temperature.php
Brian Mastroianni. 2015. Why 2 degrees are so important. https://www(dot)cbsnews(dot)com/news/paris-un-climate-talks-why-2-degrees-are-so-important
Rebecca Lindsey and LuAnn Dahlman. 2020. Climate change global temperature. https://www(dot)climate(dot)gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-temperature
Introduction
Global warming is a global anthropogenic disaster characterized by a gradual but steady increase in the earth's atmospheric temperature. However, this term is not synonymous with climate change, as the latter refers to geographical, weather, and atmospheric changes triggered mainly by global warming (NASA, 2022). Changing weather patterns, extinction of plants and animals, widespread droughts and heavy rains, and wildfires are some of the cumulative effects of global warming and climate change that are more than likely to impede the cultivation and distribution of food across the globe, especially in developing countries. Nevertheless, the real threat to developing countries is not the production but the impact of climate change on the proper distribution and storage of food in these countries. Climate change scientists are unanimous about the devastative impact of climate change and global warming on these countries' population growth and food security. Numerous data and information support their thesis. Therefore, this paper critically examines empirical and theoretical references to validate and estimate the impact of climate change on food security in developing regions.
Discussion
According to authentic and well-documented data, the earth's atmospheric temperature has been on a haphazard rise since the early twentieth century. This trend has exhibited prominence from the 1970s until today. Overall, since the inception of the Industrial Revolution in 1880, the global temperature has risen by 1 Celsius. In the twenty-first century, this global increase in temperature showed unprecedented growth as in the first decade, as the global temperature rose to 14.5 Celsius (Osborn, 2021). According to other authentic data, in the early decades of the twenty-first century, the average temperature across the land and oceans rose to 0.84 Celsius, which is way above the average temperature rise recorded in the twentieth century (Lindsey & Dahlman, 2022).
These empirical data make it clear that global warming has become an unstoppable phenomenon for the earth's environment. However, as discussed above, this global warming is only the trigger that initiates a series of devastating climatic changes that will ultimately threaten the very existence of life on earth. This data also clarifies the distinction between climate change and global warming and verifies them as separate but interconnected phenomena. Thus, the cumulative effect of various climate changes will surely trigger the global food security crisis. One of the most crucial marks that drives all the international and national discussions on global warming and its impact on climate change is the 2 Celsius mark. This temperature mark indicates a rise of 2 degrees since the Industrial Revolution. Logically, if the global temperature hits this mark, it would lead to more drastic climatic changes, including more widespread droughts, more frequent natural disasters like flooding, and more threats to food production, distribution, and security (Mastroianni, 2015).
The projected negative impact of climate change on agricultural productivity discussed above needs to be verified via empirical data. According to a recent research study conducted Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), changes associated with climate change will severely enhance the uncertainty related to water availability across the planet (Gitz et al., 2016). Since water is the essential requirement for agricultural production, inconsistency in water supply will impact the agricultural yield. Similarly, the report further identifies various extant direct and indirect impacts of climate change on agricultural activity that will intensify in the future. The direct impact includes physical changes in atmospheric and terrestrial conditions, alteration in the distribution and operation of essential pollinators and vectors, and introduction invasive species into the ecosystem (Gitz et al., 2016).
Another study, which used IPCC parameters of highest warming, revealed that the projected increase in climate change will reduce the yield of four essential crops (grains, oil seeds, wheat, and rice) by 17 percent by the year 2050 compared with no climate change scenario. This study projects a further decrease in global agricultural production after 2050 if the trend of climate change continues (Gitz et al., 2016). Furthermore, a decrease in agricultural production will reduce the growth of animal fodder, negatively impacting the availability of livestock and their edible products. For instance, by 2050, there will be a 10 to 25 percent decrease in the dairy yield in South Africa due to the unavailability of animal fodder (Gitz et al., 2016). These facts and figures endorse the impact mentioned above that climate is likely to cause on global agricultural productivity. Even the current scenario of intensive devastating weather patterns and associated crop loss also endorse the gloomy scenario projected by climate change experts.
It is also crucial to understand and evaluate how much global warming and climate change contribute to the food security crisis in developing countries. Many environmentalists and economists believe that changes in the weather pattern, landscape, and increasing frequency of natural disasters are the root causes of growing food insecurity in developing countries. Careful and empirical analysis of various research studies and the generated empirical dat...