Hunger Games ...

People going hungry should not happen but it does and many die because man does not think about the world but rather about locale and money as both have tremendous impact on who gets to eat and when. With Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the world's food shortage's getting worse, not only because of the war but also on what is happening to the planet thanks to global warming.

The humanitarian disaster produced by Russia’s needless invasion of Ukraine shocks the conscience: 10 million Ukrainians displaced and innumerable Ukrainians killed. But because Ukraine and Russia are both major food exporters, the human toll will grow much larger, far from Ukraine’s borders.

As Ukraine’s farms have turned into battlefields, uncertainty around the country’s agricultural exports, as well as Russia’s, has created a global food emergency by driving up the prices of wheat, corn, soybeans, fertilizers and sunflower oil.

Note: Includes the top 50 countries by share of G.D.P. Wheat prices as of March 23.Sources: 

Gro Intelligence, World Bank, F.A.O.

The prices of commodities like wheat and corn are global, but their shocks are inequitable. Wealthier countries and people can absorb sharp price increases. Meanwhile, people in poorer countries, like Sudan and Afghanistan, are finding it far more expensive to eat. In Sudan, rising wheat prices have caused the price of bread to roughly double. Because Ukraine and Russia exported livestock feed and fertilizer before the war, the cost and difficulty of producing food will increase in the months and years ahead.

The GW factor

Before the war, roughly 811 million people around the world did not have enough to eat. That number could increase tremendously this hunger season, the time between spring planting and fall harvest when food often runs out.

Climate change will compound these risks. In key agricultural regions, drought conditions are worse today than they’ve been in decades.

Note: Drought severity is measured by the Gro Drought Index, which is derived from satellite data and includes 46 variables (such as precipitation, temperature and soil moisture). The index also accounts for differences in what drought conditions look like in different parts of the world.Source: Gro Intelligence

The Dark Ages loom ...