Introduction
Agriculture needs to be radically transformed to feed a growing global population and provide the basis for economic growth and poverty reduction. The complexity of this task is exacerbated by climate change. This is because the non-commercial use of resources in farming and livestock farming is causing global warming. Also, more extreme weather events and more unpredictable weather patterns are already affecting agriculture and food security. Accordingly, the food system should be analyzed as a victim and cause of climate change.
Food System Main Victim of Climate Change
The food system is the combination of factors that determine the food nature of a country’s economy, including production, logistics, storage, food processing, radiation consumption, and waste management. Climate change is creating severe obstacles to food security (Marshman et al. 4). The food production of low-latitude countries, many of which already suffer from poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition, will be most influenced by the consequences of climate change (Marshman et al. 5). By contrast, regions with temperate weather can be positively affected, as warmer weather promotes increased agricultural production.
Global agriculture is becoming increasingly unsustainable due to climate change and limited land and water resources. If greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere remain at current levels, 50 percent of plant and animal species could disappear by 2080, particularly in the Baikal and Amazon basins (Clapp et al. 80). More acute challenges include trends in desertification and drought, which could cause widespread famine and food insecurity for entire nations. This would lead to increased migration flows and humanitarian disasters. In addition, rising ocean levels can lead to flooding or withdrawal from agricultural production in large areas of the coastal lowlands (Clapp et al. 84). This makes the threat of hunger, food insufficiency, and increased migration quite real.
The Food System Catalyst for a Changed Climate
Climate change caused by human activities is a prerequisite for unsafe and widespread disturbances in nature. Nowadays, the production of meat, fish, seafood, and milk is a huge industry that is willing to make significant ecological sacrifices for its benefit, attributing them to the massive human need for such food. Furthermore, livestock production increases greenhouse gas emissions due to natural causes (Parry 28). For example, it is carbon dioxide from animal respiration and methane from the digestive activities of ruminants. Americans estimate that one cow produces 250 to 500 liters of methane per day (Lal 661). This very same methane has a much more significant effect on the Earth’s temperature rise than CO2, but it stays in the atmosphere for a shorter time.
Moreover, maintaining animals is associated with the consumption of enormous quantities of water, which goes to growing crops, drinking, washing, and other related processes. This human use of one of the most valuable resources is naturally not optimal (Lal 661). Furthermore, pastures, farms, and other livestock lands not only occupy a substantial portion of the planet but also degrade the land and contribute to the planet’s deforestation.
Conclusion
Thus, global warming seriously threatens the existence of half of all plant and animal species in regions of the planet with particularly diverse flora and fauna. Also, the inability to provide food due to drought or floods can lead to mass starvation. At the same time, the constant use and depletion of land have a negative impact on the climate. Moreover, animal husbandry stimulates the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Works Cited
Clapp, Jennifer, et al. “The Global Political Economy of Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Systems.” The Journal of Peasant Studies, vol. 45, no. 1, 2018, pp. 80-88. Web.
Marshman, Jennifer, et al. “Anthropocene Crisis: Climate Change, Pollinators, and Food Security.” Environments, vol. 6, no. 2, 2019, pp. 1-22. Web.
Parry, Martin. Climate Change and World Agriculture. Routledge, 2019.
Lal, R. Climate Change. Elsevier, 2021.