Climate Change and Health Series - Food Systems

Food cultivation accounts for over one-third of annual greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide, methane and other emissions directly contribute to human-caused climate change, with diverse impacts on food systems. These include reduced crop productivity and viability due to extreme weather events, increased temperatures and decreased water availability (drought). A brief overview of how these impacts may effect human health:

Drought

The effects of extreme drought are visible right now in the United States, where nearly 10% is in a state of ‘exceptional drought’ due to reduced snowpack, record-breaking extreme heat and population growth. California, which grows 25% of the national food supply, has been especially impacted with widespread water scarcity driving up production costs, with an associated increase of up to 40% in food prices for staples such as beef, pork and milk compared with 2020 levels.

Food-borne illness

Over 9 million cases of foodborne disease are diagnosed each year in the United States. Many of the pathogens that cause these illnesses are known to be influenced by climate change-related variables such as air temperature, water temperature and precipitation. Increased air and water temperatures and extended summer seasons are associated with more vibrio, E.Coli and Salmonella infections.

Food insecurity

Climate change impacts reducing crop yields worldwide and worsening malnutrition. Global yields of corn, wheat, soybeans have declined in recent years, with vital agricultural areas in Africa and Asia projected to lose 20-60% of viable acreage by 2098, based on an anticipated temperature increase of 2.6 to 4 degrees Celsius. This will likely increase food insecurity in developing countries where malnutrition is already a major cause of premature death and disease. This includes 45 percent of deaths in children under 5 and 35 percent of the overall disease burden. The United Nations estimates that over 700 million people worldwide suffer from severe food insecurity.

Workers

Climate change impacts such as extreme heat directly threatens the health of thousands of agricultural workers. This large, critical workforce is at increased risk for dehydration, heat stroke, exacerbation of existing chronic disease and even death. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that farmworkers die at 20 times of heat the national rate. Over 350,000 are employed in California’s Central Valley alone, which has experienced historic heat waves in recent years and climate models project over 40 extreme heat days per year by 2050.