Newsflash: Deniers still insist “CO2 Good for Crops”
I’m on the road for a few days. This is just a quick update on the impact of this year’s climate disasters in major grain producing countries. Joe Romm has a discussion over at Climate Progress.
More video below the fold.
Food prices, according to Scientific American, have reached record highs:
Last month’s average food price index came in at 215, whereas the peak in 2008 was 213.5. In December 2009, the figure was only 172.
The recent high is the culmination of a steady increase in prices over the past six months. It marks the highest food price index since food price figures were first recorded 30 years ago.
FAO attributes the upswing in prices to factors including the crop failures caused by a string of extreme weather events and high crop demands from an ever-increased global population. Many experts have linked the series of floods and fires with climate change.
Crop damage caused by flooding in Australia and drought in Argentina is likely to boost grain prices in coming months, ..
The unsurprising result is unrest in those areas where people are closer to the edge, economically. Look for more of this as climate denier’s much acclaimed “Greening of Planet Earth” continues.
New Scientist on the “Good for crops” crock. I’ve treated it before. Obviously will have to update soon.
Troubling news…
There seems to be a pattern emerging these past couple years. What studies have been done on the link between the current inclement weather and global warming? Most sources I have seen seem to discount the notion as “too early to tell”.
Algeria may have other economic problems to contend with in the next few years. The country’s oil production has flattened out and it may start falling in 2014. Algeria is a fairly large player within OPEC, and a large chunk of the economy is tied up in oil and gas exports.
http://www.energyfiles.com/afrme/algeria.html