"Food Security Wanes as World Warms"

Claudia Nagy 12-2-10
Chem II Honors


Raloff, Janet. "Food Security Wanes as World Warms" ScienceNews. 12-1-10. 12-2-10



In this article Raloff explains that as global warming increases, food security rapidly declines. In recent years, it has been a universal goal for harmful green house gases to be reduced, however, since 2009, the number has only decreased by 1.3%, the equivalent of four days of emissions. As the temperature climbs, farmers have more difficulty adapting to the climate changes, resulting in food shortages, riots, and price increases by "five to ten fold." Russia, the world's 4th leading cereal producer sold 17 million metric tons throughout the world in 2009, yet this year will only be exporting 4 million metric tons. Such shortages are predicted to increase the cost of food imports by more than 11% than in 2009, and will affect low-income food-importing countries the most. Because of global temperature change, the prices of staple items will continue to rise, and the number of people who are malnourished will climb exponentially.
I chose this article because I recently read a New York Times article detailing how the FDA has recently decided to more closely monitor food safety, as thousands of people suffered from illnesses contracted from eating vitiated eggs, spinach, or meat products earlier this year, because the FDA has been spending more time regulating pharmaceuticals, neglecting the "Food" in "Food & Drug Administration." "Food Security Wanes as World Warms" is an important article to society because it adds another perspective as to how the food industry today is too big and too reliant on climates that have recently turned too capricious for farmers to handle. It is ironic, however that as food regulation and safety procedures are increased, the quantity of food to regulate is becoming more scarce.
Though the article is well written, it is plenary of some gratuitous facts. There are copious statistics, and predictions that seem to serve only as scare tactics to readers. The article neglects to include the numerous technological advancements from recent years that may help reduce green house gases in greater quantities than ever before, or how more countries are moving to sustainable energy than ever before. Including these details may have given readers a more optimistic view of a foreboding topic.