Introduction
This unit looks at the impact of climate change on food — specifically, the impact on the soil, which affects both agricultural production, including the quantity and quality of harvests, and animals.
Outcomes
On completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- describe the impact of climate change on food security and food justice.
- link increasingly severe weather events to emerging food security concerns.
Terminology
Carbon dioxide (CO2): A naturally occurring gas that absorbs and gives off heat. It is a by-product of burning fossil fuels or biomass (dead organisms) and removing trees and changing land-use patterns. It is also produced by some industrial processes.
Degradation: Changes that negatively affect the structure or functioning of a site — natural or human-built — and lower the production capacity of the site.
Drought: The result of lower than normal precipitation (usually rain or snow). It negatively affects production systems that depend on land resources.
Emissions: Gases or particulates that are released into the atmosphere.
Food justice: Universal access to nutritious, affordable and culturally appropriate food. When there is food justice, there are no structural disparities in food access, particularly for minorities, people of colour, persons with disabilities and people with low incomes; there are equal opportunities for land ownership, universal knowledge about agricultural practices and equitable distribution of technology and resources; and workers’ rights are upheld.
Food security: Having regular and long-term physical and economic access to sufficient, affordable, safe and nutritious food that meets a person’s basic needs and preferences for a healthy life.
Nutrition security: Having affordable and consistent access to the primary nutrients that are required for healthy living — including proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, fats and minerals along with sunshine (which provides vitamin D), which promote well-being and can help to prevent diseases.
Fossil fuel: Natural fuel formed from the remains of previously living organisms — for example, coal, oil and natural gas.
Greenhouse gases (GHGs): Atmospheric gases responsible for causing global warming and climate change. The major GHGs are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O).
Natural resource depletion: The exhaustion or reduction of natural resources — for example, water, soil or forests — because of unsustainable exploitation or environmental degradation.
Livelihoods: The various ways in which a person or community makes a living. It includes all the activities and resources that are necessary to meet people’s basic needs, such as food, water, shelter, clothing and healthcare. Livelihoods also contribute to the economic and social development of communities.
