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.
Subscribe to 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."
-
Cloudbursts: what are the 'rain bombs' hitting India and Pakistan?The Explainer The sudden and intense weather event is almost impossible to forecast and often leads to deadly flash-flooding and landslides
-
What do heatwaves mean for Scandinavia?Under the Radar A record-breaking run of sweltering days and tropical nights is changing the way people – and animals – live in typically cool Nordic countries
-
Blue whales have gone silent and it's posing troubling questionsUnder the radar Warming oceans are the answer
-
Acid rain is back: the sequel nobody wantedUnder The Radar A 'forever chemical' in rainwater is reviving a largely forgotten environmental issue
-
Why is the world so divided over plastics?Today's Big Question UN negotiations on first global plastic treaty are at stake, as fossil fuel companies, petrostates and plastic industry work to resist a legal cap on production
-
Tuvalu is being lost to climate change. Other countries will likely follow.Under the Radar Sea level rise is putting islands underwater
-
Massive earthquake sends tsunami across PacificSpeed Read Hundreds of thousands of people in Japan and Hawaii were told to evacuate to higher ground
-
FEMA Urban Search and Rescue chief resignsSpeed Read Ken Pagurek has left the organization, citing 'chaos'
