Climate change and your food: Ten facts

What a warming world means for agriculture and feeding the planet

Climate change has many implications for farming communities and global food security.

©Photo: ©FAO

02/12/2015

Here are ten facts about how a change climate affects our ability to grow food and feed ourselves.

Help spread the word about the implications of climate change for global food security: Select a fact, and then the pop-up Twitter icon that appears to tweet it. We've bolded a few tweetable tidbits as suggestions for you.

Tag a tweet with #COP21 to let world leaders gathered in Paris know that feeding the planet demands action on #ClimateChange.

75% of the world's poor & food insecure people rely on agriculture & natural resources for their livelihoods

FAO estimates that world food production must rise 60% to keep pace with demographic change. #ClimateChange puts this at risk.

According to @IPPC, crop yield declines of 10-25% may be widespread by 2050 due to #ClimateChange

Rising temperatures are predicted to reduce catches of the world's main fish species by 40%.

Although global emissions from deforestation have dropped, deforestation & forest degradation account for 10-11% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions from forest degradation (logging & fires ) increased from 0.4 to 1.0 gt cO2 per year between 1990 & 2015.

Livestock contributes nearly 2/3 of agriculture's greenhouse & 78% of its methane emissions.

#ClimateChange can transfer risks of food-borne diseases from 1 region to another, threatening public health in new ways.

FAO estimates that the potential to reduce emissions from livestock production (methane esp.) is about 30% of baseline emissions.

Currently, 1/3 of the food we produce is either lost or wasted. The global costs of food wastage ≈$2.6 trillion/yr, including $700 billion of environmental costs & $900 billion of social costs.

Global food loss & waste generate about 8% of humankind's annual greenhouse gas emissions.

	75% of the world's poor & food insecure people rely on agriculture & natural resources for their livelihoods
	FAO estimates that world food production must rise 60% to keep pace with demographic change. #ClimateChange puts this at risk.
	According to @IPPC, crop yield declines of 10-25% may be widespread by 2050 due to #ClimateChange
	Rising temperatures are predicted to reduce catches of the world's main fish species by 40%.
	Although global emissions from deforestation have dropped, deforestation & forest degradation account for 10-11% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions from forest degradation (logging & fires ) increased from 0.4 to 1.0 gt cO2 per year between 1990 & 2015.
	Livestock contributes nearly 2/3 of agriculture's greenhouse & 78% of its methane emissions.
	#ClimateChange can transfer risks of food-borne diseases from 1 region to another, threatening public health in new ways.
	FAO estimates that the potential to reduce emissions from livestock production (methane esp.) is about 30% of baseline emissions.
	Currently, 1/3 of the food we produce is either lost or wasted. The global costs of food wastage ≈$2.6 trillion/yr, including $700 billion of environmental costs & $900 billion of social costs.
	Global food loss & waste generate about 8% of humankind's annual greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate change and your food: Ten facts

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