Although much has been learned in recent decades from advances in observations, theory, and computer simulations, we still have not identified definitively the physical processes that heat the corona and accelerate the solar wind. How do remittances stack up to climate aid? In 2021, migrants sent home nearly $590 billion, compared with the $100 billion annual climate finance that rich countries promised to share with poor countries.The corona is a layer of hot plasma that surrounds the Sun, traces out its complex magnetic field, and ultimately expands into interplanetary space as the supersonic solar wind. Somalia faces the risk of famine once again. In rural Mexico, one study found, remittances, especially from abroad, were a “fundamental coping strategy against food insecurity.” Oxfam, the international charity, found that remittances were critical for families in Somalia during the famine in 2011. Another paper found that cash transfers in Brazil helped families change their status from food insecure to food secure. Researchers studying government-run cash transfer programs in four African countries found that those that are generous and predictable improved the quantity and quality of food. I always come back to rice.Ĭash can prevent hunger. That’s disastrous for the health and well-being of billions of children.īut it’s hard to get farmers to grow different crops if decades of agricultural policy have encouraged them otherwise. Several experiments, conducted in the lab, show that staple grains, like wheat, corn and rice, lose vital nutrients like iron and zinc when exposed to elevated carbon dioxide levels. Then there’s the effect of climate change on nutrition. But it also reduced the diversity of crops grown and made farmers reliant on seeds and chemical fertilizers sold by big agricultural companies. Starting in the mid-20th century, the Green Revolution allowed millions of farmers to harvest more grain than ever before, reducing the risks of hunger. Should yield increases be the main objective? Critics warn of the lessons from previous efforts to increase yields. There are also calls to help small farmers, especially in Asia and Africa, to increase crop yields with new farming techniques or expanded access to credit. Many researchers are trying to develop seeds that can survive in new climatic conditions: rice that can grow in more saline water, maize to withstand drought, and so on. Another paper found that hotter days and nights had already slightly lowered crop yields in some countries with high rates of child malnutrition. One research paper found that every one degree Celsius increase in average global temperatures could reduce maize yields by 7.4 percent. Keep an eye on whether the latest disruptions to global trade trump that argument.Ĭlimate change affects productivity. Sometimes, it’s more expensive to grow food locally than have it shipped from elsewhere. Some economists argue that food self-sufficiency isn’t always the most efficient path. The president of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, recently spoke of efforts to advance food self-sufficiency on the continent, with a $1.5 billion plan to provide seeds to 20 million smallholder farmers. I expect more countries to consider such a policy as climate change and conflict disrupts the global food system. India’s export restrictions on wheat and sugar reflect the country’s longstanding goal of food self-sufficiency: Produce and store enough grain to feed its people to avert the famines of the past. Here are some of the proposed fixes you’ll be hearing more about in coming years: There are many levers to address food security on a hotter planet. That led to fears that rice could be next, Reuters reported, though India has said it has no such plans. They then limited the exports of sugar cane. A brutal heat wave, magnified by climate change, withered the wheat crop in parts of India in May, and Indian officials responded by banning exports of wheat. This year, climate change affected food security in at least one stark way. Erratic rains make it far more difficult for farmers and herders to earn a living. Hotter days and nights, plus extreme floods and droughts, can drive down yields in some places, block the transport of food, make staple grains less nutritious. Then, the Russian invasion of Ukraine sent food and fertilizer prices soaring.Ĭlimate change looms in the background of all this. The United Nations warned of “ catastrophic conditions” in several countries. In 2021, nearly 193 million people were “food insecure,” 40 million more than in 2020. Food prices shot up - and with them, hunger. That rise has been driven mainly by conflict, but the coronavirus pandemic and supply chain snags sharply accelerated the trend. Second, the number of undernourished people has been rising since 2015, reversing a decade-long decline.
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