Fears are growing that common-place food items will disappear from supermarket shelves across the US as the impact of climate change is felt. Extreme weather is already decimating crops, and unpredictable growing conditions are only expected to worsen. A number of items have been hard to get recently, including eggs and avocados, with supermarkets braced for a shortage .
There is also currently a global shortage of cocoa after West African countries, responsible for 70 per cent of cacao production, suffered poor harvests due to heat, heavy rainfall and disease. The crisis is expected to get worse as our planet continues to warm. Food scientist Bryan Quoc Le spoke to the Mirror.
com about how climate change could impact food supply in the United States. He explained: "One of the main concerns with climate change is the spread of blights and pests. Warmer temperatures and shorter winters will expand the areas that will be affected by fungi and insects that often affect crops.
Annual cold winters are essential for ensuring these pests are kept in check, as most cannot survive the winter." He added: "Additionally, warmer temperatures will likely reduce the amount of precipitation in farming regions, which rely on consistent water sources to ensure crops are well-watered. This is especially true of farmland that is already stressed by annual droughts, such as the Central Valley of California.
" In the last two years prices of olive oil soared after high temperatures and drought cond.
