Climate change is coming for these foods
Winds, droughts, and heavy storms are affecting key agricultural regions around the world, causing many farms to fall short of their required product demand. But how exactly is climate change affecting some of our most loved produce and what does this mean for the future of the crops? CIA Landlords have researched the foods that are most affected by climate change. Tomatoes in Italy Italy is the largest tomato producer in Europe, supplying an average of 6 – 7 million metric tons per year. However last year, farms in Northern Italy were 19% under the contracted volumes and sadly, this is expected to decline even further. This is because the climate, that was once a warm paradise perfect to grow the fruit, is now becoming colder and more susceptible to rain. These lower temperatures are slowing the ripening process of the fruit, and in 2019 less than half of the contracted volumes were produced on time. If this continues to happen, the supermarket prices will continue to increase and we could begin to see shortages on the shelves. Italy’s forests have also declined in recent years because cows in Italy, which are used to produce ‘fine leather goods,’ are needing the space to be reared. This, in turn, has decreased the amount of oxygen and CO2 in the air. This will have a negative effect on citizens’ health – polluted air can not just exacerbate existing respiratory illnesses but also cause them. Almonds in California California grows 80% of the world’s export of almonds and the state’s industry is now worth $6 billion. However, the growing process of almonds is lengthy and requires a lot of both physical and human energy. California uses 60% of the honeybee hives in the country just for almond pollination each winter, and the […]