CHAPTER ONE FEEDING THE WORLD Imagine a classic American style breakfast eggs toast with butter orange juice and bacon And don't forget the coffee or tea Where did each of these items come from How far did they need to travel to reach your plate
With modern transportation the world's food supply has become more interconnected than ever before Still about one in nine people do not have enough to eat and the global population continues to grow Scientists predict that to feed everyone farmers will need to double the amount of crops they produce by 2050 Climate change is going to make it difficult to reach this goal That's because the main food sources for people around the world crops livestock and fish are sensitive to climate Climate change is expected to affect agriculture around the world Weather and climate what's the difference Weather is the daily state of the atmosphere around us It includes factors like temperature precipitation humidity and wind Climate is the average of weather conditions in an area over time A place with a dry climate can still have days of rainy weather
All of our food sources are closely linked to their environments As the climate changes farmers may need to adjust what crops they grow and where and when they grow them The same hot weather that is good for limes and other citrus fruit makes kale and spinach bolt and taste bitter There is a lot of evidence that Earth's climate is changing The global average temperature is increasing Precipitation patterns are changing Glaciers are melting oceans are warming and becoming more acidic and sea levels are rising Extreme weather events such as droughts fires and flooding have become more common
It could also become more difficult to raise animals Dry spells drought and heat waves are hard on livestock Warmer weather could lower the quality of their feed As water temperatures rise fisheries will also be affected Cattle and pigs eat less when under heat stress
