Scare-tacttics... or not?
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devonshiredave

Original Poster:

552 posts

219 months

Wednesday 28th October 2009
quotequote all
Get ready for the next climate change projected mayhem

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20091028/tuk-climate-c...

Climate change 'to hit food prices'
8 hours 49 mins ago

Buzz Up! Print Story Soaring food prices could leave UK consumers forking out almost £6.50 for a loaf of bread and more than £18 for a pint of beer by 2030 unless urgent action is taken to avert dangerous climate change, environmentalists have claimed. Skip related content
Related photos / videos Climate change 'to hit food prices' A study for Friends of the Earth examining how warming temperatures could affect food supplies said the prices of basics like bread, rice and pasta could all spiral in the next two decades, leaving millions hungry in the UK.

Yields of staple crops are predicted to fall as global temperatures rise, while climate change will also put extra pressure on land and resources such as water with more droughts, floods and extreme weather events expected.

The report by Ray Hammond, who studies how future trends will affect society and business and is a visiting lecturer at Oxford University's Institute for the Future of Humanity, warned food prices could rise well above inflation by 2030.

His research, based on previous price hikes recorded by the World Bank and projections by the International Food Policy Research Institute, suggested an 800g loaf of white bread which currently costs 72p would rise to £6.48 - as opposed to the £1.44 it would cost under normal inflation.

A litre of corn oil would rise from £1.99 to £17.91, a kilogram of basmati rice would increase from £1.69 in today's prices to £15.21 by 2030, and 500g of cornflakes would shoot up from 78p to £7.20. Even beer would increase, with a pint of Pilsner lager rising from £2.05 to £18.45.

The study comes after a map of the impacts of a 4C rise in global temperatures published by the Government warned rice yields could drop by up to 30% in China, India and Bangladesh and maize and wheat yields could fall by up to 40% in Africa, the Americas and Asia.

Friends of the Earth is calling for a strong climate deal in Copenhagen in December, when it is hoped countries will agree to reduce global greenhouse gases to limit temperature rises to 2C and avoid the "dangerous" climate change which would occur with greater temperature increases.

The environmental group's head of climate, Mike Childs, said: "This vision of life in 2030 shows that life with climate change won't be pretty, it'll be pricey - the cost of simple foods like bread and rice will rocket and millions more people will go hungry here in the UK alone."

But he said: "There is still time to avert this nightmare scenario. At the UN climate talks in Copenhagen in just 40 days, rich countries must show leadership by stumping up hard cash for developing countries to grow cleanly and adapt to the effects of climate change already putting millions of lives at risk.

Kozy

3,169 posts

235 months

Wednesday 28th October 2009
quotequote all
rofl

6/10 for delusion.

Uhura_Fighter

7,018 posts

200 months

Wednesday 28th October 2009
quotequote all
devonshiredave said:
Friends of the Earth is calling for a strong climate deal in Copenhagen in December,
Lobbyists/wkers

Jasandjules

71,262 posts

246 months

Wednesday 28th October 2009
quotequote all
Scare Tactics?

Yes, it's all they've got. No scientific evidence ever appears to back this stuff up, does it now?

T89 Callan

8,422 posts

210 months

Wednesday 28th October 2009
quotequote all
Whats stupid is if you had told someone in 1980 how much food and beer cost today they would have laughed just as much.

It's called inflation I believe?

stew-S160

8,020 posts

255 months

Wednesday 28th October 2009
quotequote all
what really gets me, is that there are people who would read this and believe it.