Thanks to climate change, food could soon taste a lot worse
A new report from climate scientists at the University of Melbourne claims that climate change will have devastating effects on Australia's food supply.
The report, Appetite for Change, says that vegetables, meat, and grains will lose their flavor and become worse in quality, thanks to extreme weather, warming oceans, and climate-related disease. Dairy will be particularly affected by rising temperatures, for example, while heat stress may cause chickens to yield lower-quality meat.
David Karoly, co-author of the report, told Phys.org that climate change has increased the amount of bush fires and heat waves in Australia, causing threats to Australia's farms.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"It's definitely a wake up call when you hear that the toast and raspberry jam you have for breakfast, for example, might not be as readily available in 50 years time," Richard Eckard, an associate professor at the University of Melbourne, said in a statement. "It makes you appreciate that global warming is not a distant phenomenon, but a very real occurrence that is already affecting the things we enjoy in our everyday lives, including the most common of foods we eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."
-
‘States that set ambitious climate targets are already feeling the tension’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Mixing up mixology: The year ahead in cocktail and bar trendsthe week recommends It’s hojicha vs. matcha, plus a whole lot more
-
Labor secretary’s husband barred amid assault probeSpeed Read Shawn DeRemer, the husband of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, has been accused of sexual assault
-
Earth is rapidly approaching a ‘hothouse’ trajectory of warmingThe explainer It may become impossible to fix
-
At least 8 dead in California’s deadliest avalancheSpeed Read The avalanche near Lake Tahoe was the deadliest in modern California history and the worst in the US since 1981
-
The plan to wall off the ‘Doomsday’ glacierUnder the Radar Massive barrier could ‘slow the rate of ice loss’ from Thwaites Glacier, whose total collapse would have devastating consequences
-
Can the UK take any more rain?Today’s Big Question An Atlantic jet stream is ‘stuck’ over British skies, leading to ‘biblical’ downpours and more than 40 consecutive days of rain in some areas
-
As temperatures rise, US incomes fallUnder the radar Elevated temperatures are capable of affecting the entire economy
-
The world is entering an ‘era of water bankruptcy’The explainer Water might soon be more valuable than gold
-
Climate change could lead to a reptile ‘sexpocalypse’Under the radar The gender gap has hit the animal kingdom
-
The former largest iceberg is turning blue. It’s a bad sign.Under the radar It is quickly melting away
