The main purpose of this ongoing blog will be to track planetary extreme, or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below the main topic of the day. I’ll refer Main Topic: Eastern Cuba Braces for Hurricane Oscar Trying to Recover from a Power Blackout extreme or record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials).😜
Main Topic: Since 2019 Global Hunger Has Been Rising as the World Gets Warmer
Dear Diary. My fears concerning what record heat is doing to Africa and Asia are starting to be realized. According to a new UN report, “The world has been set back 15 years, with levels of undernourishment comparable to those in 2008-2009 – 1 in 11 people worldwide faced hunger in 2023, 1 in 5 in Africa.” This trend can be directly tied with climate change, which is decimating crop yields across those continents. We had better get our fossil fuel house in order or this decrease will be comparatively very small.
Here are more details from Desdemona Despair:
Hunger numbers stubbornly high for three consecutive years as global crises deepen: UN report – The world has been set back 15 years, with levels of undernourishment comparable to those in 2008-2009 – 1 in 11 people worldwide faced hunger in 2023, 1 in 5 in Africa
Prevalence of undernourishment (left axis) Number of undernourished (right axis), 2005-2023. After rising sharply from 2019 to 2021, the proportion of the world population facing hunger persisted at virtually the same level for three consecutive years, with the latest estimates indicating a global PoU of 9.1 percent in 2023. In terms of population, between about 713 and 757 million people (8.9 and 9.4 percent of the global population, respectively) were estimated to be undernourished in 2023. Considering the mid-range estimate (733 million), about 152 million more people may have faced hunger in 2023 compared to 2019. Graphic: FAO
30 September 2024 (World Bank) – Domestic food price inflation remains high in many low- and middle-income countries. Inflation higher than 5 percent is experienced in 77.3 percent of low-income countries (18.2 percentage points higher since the last Update on June 27, 2024), 54.3 percent of lower-middle-income countries (8.7 percentage points lower), 44% of upper-middle-income countries (8.0 percentage points higher), and 10.7% of high-income countries (0.2 percentage points lower). In real terms, food price inflation exceeded overall inflation in 55.6 percent of the 167 countries where data is available.
Since the last update on June 27, 2024, the agricultural and export price indices closed 1 and 2 percent higher, respectively; the cereal index was unchanged. Maize and rice prices closed 3 percent and 4 percent lower, respectively, and wheat closed 8 percent higher. On a year-on-year basis, maize prices are 17 percent lower, wheat prices 4 percent lower, and rice prices 3 percent lower. Maize prices are 7 percent higher than in January 2020, wheat prices 3 percent higher, and rice prices 41 percent higher (See “pink sheet” data for agricultural commodity and food commodity prices indices, updated monthly.)
The Global Report on Food Crises 2024 Mid-Year Update highlights alarming trends in acute food insecurity and malnutrition, following high levels in 2023. The number of people projected to be in Catastrophe (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Phase 5) has surged, increasing from 705,000 in 2023 to 1.9 million in 2024.
The State of Food Insecurity and Nutrition in the World 2024 report reveals significant challenges in achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2—Zero Hunger. Despite some progress in some regions, global undernourishment remains alarmingly persistent, with an estimated 713 million to 757 million people affected in 2023.
With the end of the year approaching, 2024 is likely to be one of the warmest years on record, the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) Market Monitor for September 2024 highlights significant impacts on global commodity markets. Recent weather patterns have had mixed effects on agricultural production forecasts: maize output is projected to decrease because of heat affecting the European Union, Mexico, and Ukraine, whereas soybean production is expected to rise thanks to favorable conditions in the United States.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, trade-related policies imposed by countries have surged. The global food crisis has been partially made worse by the growing number of food and fertilizer trade restrictions put in place by countries with a goal of increasing domestic supply and reducing prices. As of September 2024, 16 countries have implemented 22 food export bans, and 8 have implemented 15 export-limiting measures. [more]
World Bank Response to Rising Food Insecurity
More:
Here are more “ETs” recorded from around the planet the last couple of days, their consequences, and some extreme temperature outlooks, as well as any extreme precipitation reports:
Here is More Climate News from Monday:
(As usual, this will be a fluid post in which more information gets added during the day as it crosses my radar, crediting all who have put it on-line. Items will be archived on this site for posterity. In most instances click on the pictures of each tweet to see each article. The most noteworthy items will be listed first.)