Climate change hits food prices

The OlympianApril 9, 2014 

In its recent 32-volume report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that food prices could increase by as much as 84 percent over the next four decades, just due to climate change.

The United Nations panel said warming temperatures could reduce recent gains in crop production, driving up demand for a growing global population.

The panel specifically noted how higher temperatures could reduce yields in the apple orchards of Eastern Washington and the richest coffee-producing regions in Central and South America.

It’s a dire warning, because higher overall food prices will hurt lower-income people disproportionately and put pressure on governments to provide more robust food assistance programs. That’s something this Congress has refused to do.


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