Here Are The Foods Hit Hardest By Climate Change In 2023 - Forbes

Here Are The Foods Hit Hardest By Climate Change In 2023

In recent years, global food security has been impacted by an increase in climate change related extreme weather. Increasingly extreme weather patterns have been characterized by hotter, prolonged, and more frequent heatwaves, and when coupled with associated consequences such as droughts, wildfires, and subsequent floods following rain, they have had severe impacts on food production.

In 2023— the hottest year in recorded history— the escalating threat posed by climate impacts on food security compounded the global cost-of-living crisis, intensifying challenges already faced by vulnerable countries, low-income consumers and jeopardizing global nutrition levels.

Here are some foods that were most impacted.

Grapes and Wine

The International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) estimates that in 2023, global wine production was at its lowest in more than 30 years— with a reduction in grape yields of approximately 7% over 2022. Droughts and wildfires caused a 20% drop in production in Chile, the largest producer of wine in the southern hemisphere and the harvest was similarly bleak in Australia, where production was down by a quarter over 2022. Dry weather in Spain caused a reduction in grape harvests by 14%, and in Italy, excess rainfall, floods, hailstorms, and droughts caused a 12% reduction in overall yields.

Some regions were impacted worse than others. In Spain— the third largest wine producer in the world— arid conditions were especially harsh in Andalusia in the south and Catalonia in the northeast. The Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives of Catalonia warned that grape production might have declined in the region by as much as 60% in 2023, leading to an impact on the prices of grapes and their derivatives.
Grape pickers work in the grape harvest in the Torre del Veguer vineyard in Sant Pere de Ribes, near ... [+] Barcelona. Spain's wine producers are trying to adapt to climate change effects, as a warmer climate advances the harvest season and makes the need for more heat-tolerant grape varieties ever greater. With a total of 961,000 hectares of vines, Spain has the largest area of vineyards in the world and is the third biggest wine producer, according to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP) (Photo by JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)

Blueberries

In 2023, unprecedented heatwaves affected large parts of South America, particularly during the blueberry flowering season.

As the world’s top producer, Peru was significantly impacted by 2023 heat waves, causing delays in fruit production due to the impact on plant photosynthesis.

Consequently, Peru's blueberry exports declined by more than 50%, causing concerns that the extreme heat may lead to an increase in prices.

Elevated air temperatures, projected to last until at least the Fall of 2024, are expected to impact the primary blueberry-producing regions in the coastal and northern parts of the Peruvian highlands, which account for nearly 95% of blueberry crops and virtually all export production.
A blueberry crop suffers under severe heat and drought conditions.

Olives and Olive Oil

In 2023, extensive heat and dry conditions and insufficient soil moisture in much of the Mediterranean adversely affected olive trees. Between April 2022 and May 2023, average temperatures, surpassing norms by up to 4°C were recorded in Spain, the leading global producer of olive oil. Persistently low rainfall for over a year, leading to severe drought resulted in a 50% reduction in Spanish olive oil production.

Consequently, the prices of olive oil reached unprecedented levels and stockpiles have significantly decreased compared to previous years.

The increase in the cost of olive oil is impacting the prices of various products, including canned goods, such as sardines in olive oil. With Spain exporting 70% of its olive oil production, domestic consumers are finding themselves in competition for this commodity in a progressively competitive global market.
AUSTIN, TEXAS - OCTOBER 23: Olive Oil is seen on shelves at a Walmart Supercenter on October 23, ... [+] 2023 in Austin, Texas. Olive Oil prices have soared to record levels of extreme heat, wildfires, and drought have affected crops in Spain and Italy. Spain, the source of half the world's Olive Oil supply, reported a 48 percent drop in production according to a recent report. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Rice

Global rice supplies tightened in 2023 due to climate impacts experienced across the United States, Asia and the European Union. Throughout the year, rice prices remained elevated due to a sustained La Niña in March, followed by an El Niño anomaly in June. Additionally, India implemented restrictions on non-basmati rice in July, following concerns of a production shortfall caused by a delayed monsoon.

India, the world's largest rice exporter— accounting for 40% of global rice exports— responded to shortage concerns by imposing restrictions on shipments. Despite declining values in other grain markets, rice prices surged to their highest levels in 15 years in 2023, experiencing increases of 40%-45% in quotations at various Asian export hubs.

In October 2023, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's All Rice Price Index averaged 138.9 points, a 24% increase from the previous year.

Italy, which contributes approximately half of the European Union's rice production and is the exclusive grower of crucial varieties for risotto such as Arborio and Carnaroli, recorded a decrease in rice output in 2023. Agricultural groups warned that Italian farmers, grappling with a second consecutive year of drought, are scaling back the cultivated land for rice to its lowest level in more than two decades.
CENTRAL JAVA, INDONESIA - AUGUST 23: An old woman draws water from a well on dry paddy fields and ... [+] cracked soil in Ketangi village of Purworejo, Central Java, Indonesia on August 23, 2023. Residents say the drought has persisted for 3 months as irrigation canals fail to flow to rice fields due to reduced river water caused by changes in weather conditions, according to the Indonesian data agency from Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG). The threat of drought and forest fires is strengthening along with El Nino, which is predicted to continue until February 2024. (Photo by Dasril Roszandi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Potatoes

A study published in the journal, Climate, indicates that potatoes face a significant threat from climate change, with global yields potentially declining by 18% to 32% within the next 45 years without adaptation.

European farmers are already experiencing the impact. In 2023, heavy rain led to one of the lowest potato harvests on record in the UK. According to a report from Bloomberg, farmers in Belgium and France had to park tractors due to waterlogged fields, which impeded collection. This resulted in soaring European potato prices.

Across the globe, in the highlands of Bolivia, where potatoes are the staple crop, the late arrival of seasonal rains and untimely frost— the likely the outcome of climate change— severely impacted potato harvests, and consequently lives and livelihoods.

Over recent months, Bolivia, along with much of South America, has experienced a "heat dome," resulting in unprecedented temperatures soaring to 45°C, a remarkable occurrence during winter. In August, Bolivia registered the highest winter temperature in the Southern Hemisphere.
February 8, 2023 - Dried and a small plants are seen in a potato plantation, ruined by extreme ... [+] weather conditions, in the Bolivian altiplano in Caluyo, municipality of Calamarca. Frost and drought took their toll in the Bolivian highlands, a region particularly exposed to climate change, affecting much of the year's plantations, which by this time of the year should have been green with knee-to-waist-high potato plants.

What is to come?

Climate change has far reaching impacts to global food security. Countries that are reliant on imports of specific crops from climate vulnerable regions, are vulnerable to supply and price shocks when crop yields are affected due to climate impacts.

NASA scientists report that July has been recorded as the warmest month ever.

An evaluation of government trade data by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) reveals that $2.55 billion worth of imported food by the United Kingdom is sourced from only eight of the most climate vulnerable countries. These include Kenya, Brazil, Peru, Vietnam, India, Colombia, Belize, and Ivory Coast.

And climate change does not just impact crops, but also livestock and marine species.