Benjamin Humphrey

Recent Climate Change

Professor Dave May
11/28/14
Climate Change and its effect on food and water scarcity.
Population increase, the loss of habitat, decrease in clean
water supply, and the overall increase in food and water
consumption has us approaching a point of very dire consequences.
Human induced climate change is already happening as we speak,
with more extreme effects on their way over the next century.
These changes to the environment is affecting every aspect of
life on planet earth, from how fish in the Indian ocean find
food, to glacial retreat, to forest fires Siberia, and everything
in between. Most important to the survival of humans, food and
water supplies will not emerge unscathed from the effects of
climate change and we will face an increasingly difficult
challenge of adaption to the changing climate. They are
estimating that climate change induced price increases for food
will raise agricultural GDP but will decrease household incomes
and food security (Wiebelt Et Al, 2013).
Food security can be affected by any number of different
variables due to climate change; rising temps, rainfall pattern

changes and evaporation, rising sea level, higher frequency of

droughts, as well as increase in floods. Looking at local case
studies, Yemen is currently, and will be increasingly affected by
these very factors (Wiebelt et al, 2013). These variables can
affect agriculture yields, loss of land and infrastructure, which
will change global food supply, trade and commodity prices. Yemen
is unique in that it will be affected by both local and global
climate change impacts as it imports 70% to 90% of its food
resources (Wiebelt et al, 2013). Another county is looking ways
to help adopt sustainable agriculture practices. They are a
rather unique case, as instead of focusing on more efficiently
manage their current Ag practices, they are trying to switch over
to growing plants that would allow them to better thrive in the
coming decades. Currently the water needed to produce the food
grown in the UK is 52.6 GM^3/y where 93% of that is from
rainfall, and 7% is taken from surface and ground water (Hess,
2015). They are attempting to promote five alternative diets that
focus more on vegetarian diets, instead of the high energy grain
diets that most people in UK normally consume. They found out
that if you use average rainfall per year as a baseline, with
these more sustainable vegetarian diets, they could relinquish
their agricultural need for ground water (Hess, 2015).
As well as food scarcity issues, access to clean water will
become an even greater issue than it already is today. Currently,

over 70% of the global freshwater supply is used for agriculture,

and with the growing population, that number is expected to climb
(Allouche.J, 2011). Unfortunately, as the need for urban water
quantities increase, we are seeing agriculture water supplies
come under great scrutiny and as cities, states, and counties
fight over water rights (Hanjra et al, 2010). Irrigation and
improved water management can help to minimize water scarcity
impact, but it is by no means a solution to the overall problem.
Australia is a major food exporter, with a heavy grain, meat
and dairy industry, but recent climate change threatens to
jeapordize global food security. Looking at the recent history of
Australia, has given us a look into potential issues other
countries may face in the future. Recently Australia has suffered
from a fairly substantial drought, coupled with a declining
ground water supply, we have seen their food production and
subsequent exports decline heavily (Quershi, 2013). With the
continuing effects of global climate change it is expected that
Australias farming productivity will continue to decline by 27%
in the next four decades (Quershi, 2013).
As you can imagine, this issue has been discussed and
debated among thousands of scientists and geographers for years,
and will only continue to grow. The subject of growing water
scarcity leading to armed conflicts and wars is even beginning to

be widely debated. The underlying reasoning behind this argument

is that while food production can only grow linearly, while
population increase grows exponentially (Allouche, 2011). They
back up their claims with the idea that finite natural resources
place a strict limit on population growth and consumption,
because once those limits have been exceeded, civilized behavior
breaks down, and conflict and wars follow after. Opponents will
argue that these outcomes seem unlikely as for the last 2
centuries, humankind have passed many resource barriers that
seemed impassible due to technological advancement (Allouche,
2011).

Works Cited.

Allouche, J. (2011). The sustainability and resilience of global water and food systems:
Political
analysis of the interplay between security, resource scarcity, political systems and
global trade. Food Policy, 36(1), S3-S8. Retrieved November 29, 2014, from
http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy.lib.uni.edu/science/article/pii/S030691921000127
2

Hanjra, M., & Qureshi, E. (2010). Global water crisis and future food security in an era of
climate
change. Food Policy, 35(5), 365-377. Retrieved November 29, 2014, from
http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy.lib.uni.edu/science/article/pii/S030691921000059
X
Hess, T., Andersson, U., Mena, C., & Williams, A. (2015). The impact of healthier dietary
scenarios
on the global blue water scarcity footprint of food consumption in the UK. Food
Policy, 50, 1-10. Retrieved November 29, 2014, from
http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy.lib.uni.edu/science/article/pii/S030691921400155
9
Qureshi, E., Hanjra, M., & Ward, J. (2013). Impact of water scarcity in Australia on global food
security in
an era of climate change. Food Policy, 38, 136-145. Retrieved November 29, 2014,
from
http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy.lib.uni.edu/science/article/pii/S030691921200117
0
Wiebelt, M., Breisinger, C., Ecker, O., Al-Riffai, P., Robertson, R., & Thiele, R. (2013).
Compounding
food and income insecurity in Yemen: Challenges from climate change. Food
Policy, 43, 77-89. Retrieved November 29, 2014, from
http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy.lib.uni.edu/science/article/pii/S030691921300113
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