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Summary OCR A Level Geography Future of Food 3.b
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Notes that are compiled from both classwork as well as the textbook. Got an A* at A Level Geography
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3.b The food system is vulnerable to shocks that can impact foodsecurity
Climate change’s impact on extreme weather events
What are examples of extreme weather events?
Wildfires
Floods
Drought
Heatwaves
Tornadoes
Climate change is increasing the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather
events such as flooding, wildfires, drought and El Niño
e.g. climate change has increased flooding’s likelihood by double in the UK
compared to a world without the human induced impact of GHGs
increased climate variability is likely to manifest itself through a decreased
stability over time of the 3 pillars of food security e.g. more varying yields, more
varying economic access especially for those who rely on agriculture for income,
nutritional value
Why is this?
More water evaporates from oceans due to increasing temperatures, and
as a result more water vapour in the atmosphere leads to intense rainfall,
causing the threshold of a river’s capacity to be breached more regularly
and flooding to occur. Water vapour is also a potent greenhouse gas and
absorbs the emitted longwave radiation from the Earth, leading to further
global warming- however, counteracted by increased cloud formation
(stratocumulus clouds especially) which reflects incoming shortwave solar
radiation from the sun. For every degree rise in temperature due to CO 2,
water vapour will double the warming. Leads to a positive feedback loop
as warmer temperatures causes more water to evaporate
, in terms of heatwaves, increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
increases the number of times that temperatures reach extreme levels
Climate change has the potential to increase food insecurity and malnutrition
due to the creation of natural disasters (shocks) which lead to transitory food
insecurity by reducing the physical availability, economic access or food
utilisation and therefore reducing food security over time
This is due to 2 reasons:
1. extreme weather events shocks
o can destroy crops, critical infrastructure and hence affect
distribution, key community assets, thereby exacerbating poverty
and feeding into long-term food insecurity
2. long term and gradual climate risks
o sea levels rise as a result of climate change due to the thermal
expansion of water and the melting of ice sheets, caps and glaciers.
This will affect livelihoods in coast areas and river deltas especially:
a 1 degrees C rise in temperature result in sea level rise of 2m
e.g. Bangladesh in the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delt- susceptible
to future cyclones, storm surges, river floods and droughts.
Most of the country is low and flat, at an average of 4-5
metres above sea level
o accelerated glacial melt will affect the quantity and reliability of
water available
Bangladesh: Rising Sea Level Example
In Bangladesh, rising sea levels will increase the contamination of groundwater
and soils by saltwater intrusion- 600,000 ha of agricultural land could be too
highly salinized for cultivation by 2100
Exacerbated by poverty which limits the ability to adapt to the challenges of
climate change at all scales, from governmental to community. 60 million people
in Bangladesh live in poverty, GDP/ capita was $2364 in 2014
How climate change affects each pillar of food security
Changing climactic conditions could create a vicious cycle of disease and hunger
– infectious disease causes hunger which makes the population more susceptible
to infectious disease- secondary impact on their ability to work and therefore
economic access to food
Physical availability
1. sea water intrusion salinises land and renders it infertile for crops e.g.
Bangladesh- salt resistant crops may have to be implemented to adapt to
this
2. extreme drought means that there will not be enough water to support
growth: a necessary condition for growth due to photosynthesis required
for the production of carbohydrates
3. flooding causes oxygen deprivation for crops- needed by roots for aerobic
respiration, otherwise they turn to fermentation (anaerobic respiration)
which produces ethanol, a toxic waste product- impact determined by soil
type e.g. clay doesn’t drain well and remains waterlogged for a longer
time
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