09, Apr 2018 | CJP Team

A global study has found that India is among the nations that are most under threat of food insecurity because of extreme weather stemming from climate change, PTI reported. Researchers led by the UK’s University of Exeter considered how climate change could impact the how vulnerable various countries are to food insecurity, i.e. a situation in which people are unable to obtain sufficient, affordable and nutritious food. The study covers 122 least-developed and developing nations, largely in Africa, Asia, and South America. Researchers said that the countries that are most at risk of food insecurity if the planet warms by 2ºC include Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. According University of Exeter professor Richard Betts, climate change is projected to cause “more extremes of both heavy rainfall and drought, with different effects in different parts of the world”. Extreme weather events can raise the risk of food insecurity, Betts said, adding that although “some change is already unavoidable,” if global warming is restricted to 1.5ºC, “this vulnerability is projected to remain smaller than at 2ºC in approximately 76% of developing countries”. Global warming is projected to, on average, result in wetter weather, with floods threatening food production, but researchers said that agriculture could also be adversely impacted by recurring and protracted episodes of drought in certain regions. Wetter weather is projected to have the most effect in East and South Asia, with droughts causing the most impact in South America and southern Africa.