Rising food prices are likely to lead to higher prices and become more extreme weather events
사진 확대 AP Yonhap News Agency
Food prices around the world are skyrocketing due to climate change.
The Financial Times (FT) reported on the 20th (local time), citing a study led by the Supercomputing Center in Barcelona, Spain. “Dozens of climate extremes are directly linked to a sharp surge in food prices, and food system vulnerability to environmental shocks is growing,” the study said.
Global warming has led to a decrease in food yields and a lack of supply, leading to a rise in food prices. Olive prices in Europe jumped 50% last year compared to the previous year, due to prolonged droughts in southern Spain in 2022 and 2023. In India, onion prices rose 89% in May last year due to the heat wave, and in Korea, cabbage prices rose 70% due to the record summer heat.
Rice prices rose 48% in Japan after the August heat wave, and vegetable prices rose 30% in China. Arizona vegetable prices rose as a drought broke out in California, the United States.
“Many of the meteorological phenomena that caused the price surge are unprecedented from a historical point of view,” said Maximilian Coates, a senior researcher at the Supercomputing Center. “It is far beyond the range expected in a stable climate.”
Studies have shown that soaring food prices have often occurred just months after extreme weather events occurred. “We know that extreme weather events are already becoming more intense and frequent than they were 30 to 40 years ago,” Coates said. “As long as greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, this will continue.”
As the global food supply chain is connected, price increases also occur at the same time. In Ghana and Ivory Coast, when cocoa prices rise due to drought, chocolate prices in the UK skyrocket.
In particular, countries that are highly dependent on imported food, such as the UK, are particularly vulnerable to overseas climate shocks. Surging food prices can also lead to an increase in overall prices. UK inflation rose to an 18-month high of 3.6% in June, which means rising food prices have affected inflation. “Unusually high temperatures affect overall inflation, and the main reason is food,” Coates said.