Extreme weather drives global food price

Surges through a complex chain of disruptions:

1. **Direct Crop Damage & Yield Loss:**
* **Drought:** Reduces water availability, stunts growth, kills crops, lowers yields (e.g., wheat, corn).
* **Floods:** Drowns crops, waterlogs fields, delays planting/harvesting, washes away topsoil and nutrients.
* **Heatwaves:** Scorches crops, reduces pollination, lowers grain quality, increases evaporation stress.
* **Frost/Cold Snaps:** Damages sensitive crops (e.g., fruits, vegetables) outside their usual growing season.
* **Strong Winds/Hail:** Physically destroys crops in the field.

2. **Livestock Impacts:**
* Heat stress reduces milk yields, weight gain, and fertility in animals.
* Drought kills pastureland and reduces feed availability, forcing herd culling or expensive supplemental feed.
* Floods drown livestock, damage infrastructure, and spread disease.

3. **Supply Chain Disruptions:**
* Floods, storms, or wildfires damage roads, bridges, ports, and storage facilities, hindering transport.
* Drought lowers river levels, restricting barge traffic crucial for bulk grain transport.
* Extreme heat or cold can damage perishable goods in transit without adequate infrastructure.
* Delays and damage increase transportation costs significantly.

4. **Increased Production Costs:**
* Irrigation costs soar during droughts.
* Replanting after floods or storms is expensive.
* Pest and disease outbreaks often follow extreme weather, requiring more pesticides/fungicides.
* Energy costs spike during heatwaves (cooling) or cold snaps (heating), impacting fuel for farm machinery, transport, and fertilizer production.

5. **Reduced Global Supply & Export Restrictions:**
* When major exporting regions (e.g., US Corn Belt, Brazilian Soy, Black Sea Wheat, Southeast Asian Rice) are hit, global supply shrinks dramatically.
* Fearful of domestic shortages and inflation, key producers often impose export bans or restrictions (e.g., India on rice), further tightening global supply.

6. **Market Speculation & Hoarding:**
* Anticipation of shortages drives commodity traders to bid up futures prices.
* Importers may panic-buy to secure stocks, amplifying demand pressure.
* Processors and governments might build larger reserves, further reducing immediate market supply.

7. **Cascading Effects & Input Shortages:**
* Damage to one crop (e.g., feed corn) impacts livestock sectors, raising meat/dairy prices.
* Extreme weather can disrupt production of key inputs like fertilizers (often energy-intensive) or pesticides.

8. **The Climate Change Multiplier:**
* Rising global temperatures intensify heatwaves, droughts, and heavy rainfall events.
* Sea-level rise threatens coastal agriculture.
* Shifting climate zones force farmers to adapt, sometimes lowering yields during transition.
* Increased frequency and severity mean less time for recovery between shocks.

**Examples:**
* The severe 2022 Pakistan floods devastated rice and cotton crops.
* The prolonged 2020-2023 La Niña contributed to drought in key South American soybean/maize regions and floods in Australia.
* The 2021 Pacific Northwest “Heat Dome” damaged fruit crops and killed livestock.
* Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (amplified by climate impacts on Black Sea region agriculture) caused massive grain and oilseed price spikes.

**Result:** This combination of reduced supply (damaged crops/livestock), disrupted logistics (higher transport costs), increased production costs, reduced exports, and speculative pressure creates a powerful upward surge in global food commodity prices. This hits consumers worldwide, particularly the poor who spend a large portion of their income on food. As climate change progresses, these price spikes are likely to become more frequent and severe.