Food is the most fundamental building block of life. Even today, malnutrition, hunger and its’ sister problem, obesity, affect a significant amount of people. The number of malnourished people has been increasing since 2015 and is currently at 821.6 million humans. Malnutrition and obesity are problems that play hand in hand, especially in regions suffering from food insecurity. In fact, obesity has been increasing, affecting every 1 in 8 adults. Although food insecurity is often the root problem of malnutrition, around 1/3 of the food produced is lost or wasted.
Our diets — what we choose to eat — share a close relationship with the climate.
Food impacts the climate. Agriculture accounts for 50% of human-caused methane and ~75% of nitrous oxide emissions. These greenhouse gases are ~30 times more potent than CO2 and have ~300 times more warming potential, respectively.
Similarly, the weather impacts our food. In 2017, climate shocks — droughts, floods, dust storms, and more — were the main causes of food insecurity in 23 countries.
Our global appetite is expected to grow in parallel with the population, placing greater stress on food production. The combination of our increased consumption and climate variability will be a global threat to food security, affecting all dimensions of food security, from food production to access to distribution.
Energy plays a vital role in daily domestic life and economic development.
Global energy consumption is on the rise, and in 2018 we saw nearly twice the global average growth rate since 2010. In 2018, energy-related CO2 emissions rose 1.7%, marking the highest increase since 2013. By 2040, global energy demand will increase by 27%, with developing countries driving around 65% of this increase.
Energy consumption and climate share a close relationship, since weather patterns influence energy use. In 2018, many regions faced historical high or low average temperatures. With heat waves and cold spells driving the need for space cooling and heating respectively, such weather conditions accounted for almost 1/5 of the global increase in energy demand. Climate change is expected to increase energy demand by 11-27% with modest warming and 25-58% with vigorous warming.
Water is a finite resource. Only 2.5% of the world’s water is freshwater, two-thirds of which are captured as polar ice. Humanity is dependent on this elemental resource, since water serves many interdependent purposes in the domestic, agricultural, and industrial sectors.
Although water is needed for survival, a quarter of the globe lives in high water stress regions. Since 1960, there has been a 55% decrease in available freshwater per capita. By 2030, global demand for water will grow by 50%. These two trends in tandem are a red flag that the margin between supply and demand will wane to a sliver. 4.8 billion people — a little more than half the world’s population — will suffer from water stress in 2050 if we continue our current trajectory.
At the other end of the spectrum, sea level rising and flooding could incur $1 trillion in costs by 2050, affecting 800 million people with sea surges and more broadly 90% of coastal cities to varying degrees. Already, 90 coastal USA cities have experienced chronic flooding, with a projected 180 USA cities to face flooding by 2030. For some, like Jakarta, which is sinking 10 inches per year, the threat of sea level rise is already observable; the city has already experienced frequent flooding and is expected to have a third of itself submerged by 2050.
