Changing environmental conditions around the world “could negatively impact the health of millions of people by altering the amount and quality of key crops,” according to two studies from the Harvard School of Public Health. One study, to appear in The Lancet, “found that decreasing numbers of food pollinators such as bees – falling in part due to pesticide use and destruction of habitats – could lead to declines in nutrient-rich crops that have been linked with staving off disease.” The second study, to appear in Lancet Global Health, says “increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) could lead to lower levels of zinc in food and thus to greatly expanded zinc deficiency.” Zinc is a key nutrient for maternal and child health.
Bees and other insects that act as pollinators play a central role in 35 percent of global food production and are directly responsible for 40 percent of micronutrients, such as vitamin A. In the study on zinc, researchers estimated how rising levels of greenhouse gases would affect nutrients found in food crops. Previous studies have shown that elevated levels of carbon dioxide reduces the amount of nutrients in crops.