2010/12/02

(BN) Climate Change May Lift Wheat, Corn Prices by 2050, Study Says

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Climate Change May Lift Wheat, Corn Prices by 2050, Study Says
2010-12-01 18:33:35.226 GMT


By Alex Morales
Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Global warming may help raise the
price of crops including corn, wheat and rice by at least two-
thirds by 2050, a study by the International Food Policy
Research Institute showed.
Climate change adds to existing upward pressures on food
prices, including greater prosperity in developing nations and a
growing global population, Gerald Nelson, co-author of the
report, said today in Cancun, Mexico, where two weeks of United
Nations climate talks began Nov. 29.
"Climate change is a threat multiplier of the challenge
facing us," Nelson said. "In the context of food security,
climate change represents about 20 percent of the larger
challenges of food security facing us caused by higher
population and income growth in the developing world."
Adjusted for inflation, corn prices will rise by 42 percent
to 131 percent by 2050, depending on the level of warming and
economic and population growth, according to the study that
analyzed 15 scenarios.
Climate change will diminish rice yields worldwide, with
prices rising by 11 to 78 percent, the report said. Wheat prices
may rise 17 to 67 percent, it said.
Drought in Russia and floods in Pakistan have already
caused food shortages this year, and those phenomena offer a
"glimpse of a future negatively affected by adverse weather,"
the institute said in a statement. Taking measures to reduce
poverty will help people around the world become more resilient
to climate chocks, the report said.

For Related News and Information:
Top environment and renewable energy stories: GREEN <GO>
Stories about the climate talks: NSE CLIMATE CANCUN <GO>
Locations of global energy facilities: BMAP <GO>

--Editors: Reed Landberg, Randall Hackley

To contact the reporters on this story:
Alex Morales in Cancun, Mexico at amorales2@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or
landberg@bloomberg.net