Climate change to cause global beer shortages

Climate change means that yields of barley will decrease in the next few decades, which will lead to a shortage of beer, a study released on Monday said, according to Reuters.

Global barley yields could drop up to 17 percent as a result of extreme weather, said the study released by journal Nature Plants.

This could lead to beer shortages, driving the prices up in countries including China, the US, Germany and Russia.

A climate change economics professor, Dabo Guan, stressed that other problems, such as food security, storm damage and fresh water scarcity, pose a greater risk to the world than the prospect of beer shortages, and that people in so-called developing nations will be worst affected.

This doesn’t mean, however, that the price and availability of beer will not be severely affected by our changing weather patterns.

READ MORE: Hunger, climate change and conflicts creating ‘perfect storm’, says UN

“Climate change will affect all of us, not only people who are in India or African countries,” Guan said.

Reuters reported that many companies realise the risks of climate change on barley, 17 percent of which is used to make beer.

According to their report, while many countries keep emergency reserves of staple crops such as corn, rice and wheat as insurance against price spikes and shortages, barley is not afforded this privilege.

It was reported today that climate change together with global hunger and man-made conflicts are creating a “perfect storm”, the head of the UN’s food arm warned in a call to action on World Food Day.

“You’ve got a nightmare, the perfect storm heading your way,” David Beasley, World Food Programme (WFP) chief, said in a speech in Rome, where the United Nations’ food agencies are headquartered.

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