An estimated 500,000 people in the world could starve to death by 2050 because of low crop production as a result of climate change, according to a new study conducted by the University of Oxford.
In a study featured in the journal The Lancet, researchers at the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food examined how various changes in the Earth’s climate could impact the health and diet of people, Tech Times reported.
According to the researchers’ findings, current climate change trends could drastically reduce food availability around the world by as much as one-third in the next three decades, resulting in the deaths of 529,000 people.
Two regions that will likely be hit the hardest by the projected drop in food production are the Western Pacific with 264,000 deaths and Southeast Asia with 164,000 deaths.
Their research is considered to be the first of its kind to present strong evidence that climate change could have far-reaching consequences on the ability of countries to produce enough food by 2050.
Lead investigator Marco Springmann pointed out that, while a number of studies have been made on food security over the years, only a few of them were able to focus on the effects of agricultural production on human health.
He said that changes in the availability and consumption of food could impact the susceptibility of people to dietary and weight-related issues, including lower intake of vegetable and fruits, higher consumption of red meat products and even higher body weight.
All of these aspects contribute to a higher incidence of illnesses such as cancer, stroke and heart disease, as well as death from such diseases.
Springmann added that even minor changes in food availability for every person could produce undesirable impacts on the composition and energy content of diets. This could ultimately result in significant changes on people’s health.
