Reference News, July 30 report - According to the website of the UK's Financial Times on July 20, research has found that extreme weather caused by climate change is driving short-term food price surges globally, from potatoes in the UK to onions in India.
A study led by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center directly linked dozens of extreme climate events to sharp increases in food prices, highlighting how the food system is increasingly vulnerable to environmental shocks.
Previous studies examined how high temperatures leading to reduced yields and supply shortages have driven up food prices in the long term. However, this new study shows that specific food categories also experience more drastic short-term price increases, which further exacerbate inflation.
Europe's olive oil prices surged by 50% last year because southern Spain experienced prolonged droughts in 2022 and 2023.
India's onion prices rose by 89% in May last year due to a heatwave, while South Korean cabbage prices soared by 70% due to record high summer temperatures.
In Japan, rice prices increased by 48% in September last year after a heatwave hit the region in August. Vegetable prices in California and Arizona surged by 80% in November 2022 due to droughts.
Maximilian Kotz, the main author of the report and from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, said that many of the weather events behind these price increases are "completely unprecedented from a historical perspective." He said that temperatures "far exceeded the range we would expect in a stable climate without human emissions."
The study found that food price surges often occur several months after extreme weather events - researchers warn that this pattern is likely to become more common as climate change intensifies.
Kotz said: "We know that (extreme weather events) have become more intense and frequent than they were decades ago, and we expect this trend to continue as long as greenhouse gas emissions keep increasing."
If the food system continues to respond in the way we've recently seen, then we expect to see the same situation again, likely in a more extreme and unpredictable manner."
The study suggests that food price surges can spread from one region to the global market through trade. For example, UK chocolate prices soared after cocoa bean prices in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire tripled due to droughts and extreme heat.
Translation by Yang Xinpeng
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7532792105245999670/
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