The UN has reported that climate change is interfering with food supply and is influencing natural disasters and wars.
The report comes from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and will put pressure on governments to take a stand against this issue, according to GMA News.
"The scientific reasoning for reducing emissions and adapting to climate change is becoming far more compelling," said Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the IPCC.
Government officials from 115 countries found enough evidence that climate change is affecting food production on land and sea and could threaten food security for the whole world. The rate of increase in crop yields is slowing down, leading to the possibility that food production won't be able to keep up with global demand. Food prices may grow between 3 and 84 percent in 2050 due to changes in rainfall patterns and temperature, The Guardian reported.
"Climate change is acting as a brake," said Michael Oppenheimer, author of the report and Princeton professor. "We need yields to grow to meet growing demand, but already climate change is slowing those yields."
The report says other food sources are in danger, such as fish catching, which has fallen in some areas of the tropics by between 40 and 60 percent. Increasing food prices and political chaos, such as the riots in Asia and Africa over food price increases in 2008, were also connected to climate change, The Guardian reported.
The Scientists warned that climate change will impact droughts, heatwaves and flooding, all of which can cause disaster for poor, elderly and weak people, The Guardian reported. They added that governments do not have plans set to protect these people during such catastrophes. The report said climate change, put together with economic disasters and poverty, can also lead to wars.
"We can't continue to ignore the stark warnings of the catastrophic consequences of climate change on the lives and livelihoods of people across the planet," said Andy Atkins, executive director of Friends of the Earth.
"Giant strides are urgently needed to tackle the challenges we face, but all we get is tiny steps, excuses and delays from most of the politicians that are supposed to represent our interests.
"Governments across the world must stand up to the oil, gas and coal industries, and take their foot of the fossil fuel accelerator that's speeding us towards a climate disaster."
