A ‘Doom Loop’ of Climate Change and Geopolitical Instability Is Beginning
- Author: James Dyke
- Full Title: A ‘Doom Loop’ of Climate Change and Geopolitical Instability Is Beginning
- Category: articles
- Document Tags: #planet
- URL: https://theconversation.com/a-doom-loop-of-climate-change-and-geopolitical-instability-is-beginning-244705
Highlights
- This is most obvious in the case of food. In 2022, drought hit the Californian rice belt, halving the amount of rice that could be planted, while a 2023 drought in the midwest hit soybean production. Similar impacts rained globally, from Argentina – which lost half its soy crop to drought – to Europe, where poor olive oil harvests sent prices spiking.
In all, extreme weather in 2022 alone is estimated to have added nearly 1% to food inflation in Europe, while as much as a third of recent UK food inflation is estimated to come from climate impacts. In turn, higher food prices directly contribute to headline inflation rates. The global interconnection of food systems means that no country is fully insulated from these effects. (View Highlight)
- Meanwhile, climate change can drive inflation in other ways, like how hotter weather is reducing labour productivity and drought is drying riverbeds and waterways, affecting waterborne freight and disrupting globalised supply chains. (View Highlight)
- In a recent academic paper, we called this “derailment risk”, the risk that the world ultimately cannot stick to a path that rapidly phases out fossil fuels and avoids the worst climate outcomes. (View Highlight)
- There are other examples. Economists have identified a “climate-debt doom loop”, in which worsening climate impacts divert resources away from decarbonisation and adaptation. Climate vulnerable countries experience this from two angles. (View Highlight)