Climate change poses a significant threat to future generations. Rising sea levels and food shortages are just two of the climate-related issues future generations may be forced to confront. But it’s not just tomorrow’s generations that will be forced to deal with the consequences of climate change.
Climate change is often described and discussed in ways to suggest its effects are not already being felt. Though many of the more overwhelming side effects of climate change have yet to be felt, the Environmental Defense Fund cites various developments as evidence that climate change is already affecting daily life.
Brewing issues: For beer lovers, there’s nothing more refreshing than a cold pint. However, the EDF notes that many breweries have already been dealt a blow by heavy rains related to climate change, while others have had to confront the effects of drought head-on. Heavy rains have damaged barley crops, while drought is adversely affecting hops. Barley and hops are vital to creating beer, and the inability to grow and harvest these crops could continue to affect brewers.
Higher grocery prices: In 2018, a heat wave in northern Europe devastated wheat fields, leading to a surge in wheat prices in both Europe and the United States and projections that future wheat harvests could fall far short of expectations. Surging wheat prices means trips to the grocery store have been and may continue to be more costly. That’s an ever tougher pill to swallow when considering data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to the BLS, grocery costs in the fall of 2021 increased by more than 5 percent compared to a year earlier. The COVID-19 pandemic had a lot to do with that, but the ripple effects of climate change played a role as well.
Loss of a safety net: The EDF notes that insurance industry assessments indicate that few private flood insurance policies are now available to coastal homeowners. That’s likely because the average number of annual flood events has increased in many coastal areas as sea levels rise due to climate change. For example, data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicates that the number of flood events per year in Boston increased dramatically between 2010 and 2020 compared to the period between 1990 and 2009. If that trend continues, coastal homeowners who have already lost access to the safety net provided by flood insurance may need to reconsider where they want to live or accept that the ancillary costs of staying where they are going to increase even further.
Loss of access to water: The World Preservation Foundation notes that one-third of the world’s major lakes and rivers are drying up. That has already affected groundwater wells for three billion people, or nearly 40 percent of the global population. As more lakes and rivers dry up, even more people across the globe could be forced to confront a lack of access to water.
Climate change has already begun to affect people’s lives. Those effects could only become more widespread and severe if action to curtail and reverse climate change is not taken.
