Climate change could create a new kind of empty calories, by indirectly reducing the nutrition content of food crops, says the Guardian. “Because carbon dioxide alters the nitrogen balance in soil, robbing plants of protein and micronutrients, even once healthy foods won’t be as nutritious,” says the story by Kristina Johnson that draws on the government’s National Climate Assessment report. “Food safety could become more difficult to control, too. Additional heat and moisture encourage bacteria growth, from salmonella in meat to aflatoxin in corn.” Climate change may trigger more pernicious weed growth and more virulent pests too, says the Guardian.
On top of that, weather is expected to become more extreme – hotter days, heavier rains and more floods. Warmer weather would encourage the spread of diseases such as Lyme disease, West Nile virus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, says the Guardian. Asthma could become more common due to hotter weather and more particulates in the air. There would be fewer cool days to control the spread of allergy-inducing pollen, says the story, produced in partnership with FERN.
“Almost half of the processes that are crucial to maintaining the stability of the planet have become dangerously compromised by human activity,” says McGill University in a summary of research appearing in the journal Science. “One of the systems which has been seriously affected is the nitrogen-phosphorus cycle which is essential to all life, and is particularly important to both food production and the maintenance of clean water.”