Impact of Climate Change to Agriculture and Nutrition Part 2 Let my script parley

The reason Professor Nutellio wrote about nutrition and climate change may surprise you. The severity of climate change was emphasized disproportionately in low- and middle-income countries. Why should I be concerned? Their problem is their problem, not mine. I live in an affluent country. Problems that are not close to me do not concern me.

You should reconsider and allow my script to parley. Life is interconnected and we depend on each other to survive and thrive. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel promoted global cooperation to address climate change's major challenges. We also need to start thinking on a macro-level when it comes to our food and our behaviors. Trade and transportation of goods, including nutritious food, take place worldwide. It's easy to travel internationally these days. Obviously, it’s at this critical moment that we connect and collaborate on a global scale. To live in a sustainable world, let's be environmentotic and humanotic first, rather than simply patriotic. Afterward, we can be nationalists for our respective countries. 

Having read the first few sentences, you might be wondering what all this means and why you need to worry.

Anxiety is brewing in the public health sector regarding the emergence of infectious diseases (EID) as climate change continues to peak. Why? Our crops, livestock, and seafood will be bombarded and exposed to EID more often as climate change worsens. Therefore, food prices and scarcity will rise.

Contributors to the development of EID:

Remember the time COVID-19 first appeared on the scene and the virus was originally credited to exotic animals located at a wet food market in Wuhan City, China? Coincidentally, COVID-19 is one of those emerging infectious diseases that has caused a whirlwind of events that has stagnated the manufacture and supply of food. In the end, it contributes to global food insecurity. There’s no lie in that. Just head over to your local grocery store to check the current prices. In Jay-Z's words, "numbers don't lie, people do." In the USA alone, costs are approximately 90% of the yearly gross domestic product, which is approximately 16 trillion dollars. There’s more, food-secure nations, specifically Westernized countries are not off the hook. Emerging pathogens are expected to heavily encroach and directly sabotage the food supplies of these areas. Check out this highlight – there’s a harmonious relationship between climate change and opportunistic microbes; the more peculiar the weather becomes, the greater the risk of pathogens trespassing into our food system. Consumers are affected both financially and health wise by recent attempts to suppress the aggressive growth of EID in produce and livestock. Chemicals used to try to reduce EID and production losses in crops and animals ultimately cost consumers via higher food prices since the losses are expenses to the business.

Still think this has no relevance to you? Keep reading

 The way a pathogen operates: “Stepping-stone Dynamic” (Araujo et al., 2015;Braga et al., 2015) & Stepping-stone switches (Rodriguez-Moreles et al., 2020)

1. Pathogen expose to spectrum of new hosts (people)

2. Converts the host’s body into its own dormitory

3. Clones itself multiple times (promptly)

4. New variants want their own home, seek a host

5. The cycle continues

The big picture here is not only are the pathogens moving but we humans are constantly on the go. Brook et al stated,

“Climate change leads to movement, bringing susceptible hosts into contact with pathogens they have never seen before. This produces oscillations in both host range and geographic distributions, so that the emergence of novel diversity in restricted settings sets the stage for geographic and host expansion – disease emergence – each time there is a climate change event.”

Climate change threatens planet Earth by making it uncomfortable and unstable. This alters its daily routine and mannerisms. It also exposes the dark side of nature that is normally hidden. David Quammen in his bestselling book Spillover (Highly recommended read) highlights the movement of opportunistic bacteria throughout the world, since they are moving from one organism to another to take advantage of a free ride, free rental space, and to reproduce. A helpful illustration of this pattern of movement is when a pathogen moves from a rotten tree to bother a tick then to ambush a cow. We then consume the meat. Plant-based people are also not safe. There are many ways that pests can cause damage to soil, including invading crops that are eventually eaten by consumers.

There’s no safe zone on this planet from climate change. Great examples to think about are Ebola, Lyme disease, SARS, and the bird flu outbreaks. Remember, Ebola originated in Africa but found its way to Europe and America. A similar scenario was seen with SARs and the bird flu. As mentioned in part 1, low to middle income countries are in dire need of help because their citizens are sometimes forced to make tough decisions to feed themselves. Cost increases and the inadequacy of food have forced people to turn to bushmeat for food and wildlife trade, both legal and illegal, for survival. This was the case with Ebola and when Coronavirus cases surged in Vietnam. It was the result of street vendors preparing and serving infected bamboo rats in 2020. Since international travel is so common, it compounds the problem. This exaggerates the possibility for spillover to easily happen in places like Australia and the Western world.

Now that we have understood the implications of climate change for our food system and environment, there needs to be more of a global effort to really approach the problem. More attention must be given to low- and middle-income countries to reshape and enhance the quality of life for these people. We will reap the benefits later as we take steps forward to reducing climate change. Brooks et al. stated, “Pathogens, however, are finding us and the plants and animals upon which we rely far more often than traditional models predicted.” Further, we are our own pandemic, our behaviors are fueling climate change.

Accountable is a logical starting point. We all contributed to this fiasco, and we all must participate to improve the situation. Poverty and instability in one nation impact other nations including notable ones. The next time you're shopping and no plastic bags are available, don't get upset, rather, purchase a reusable tote bag. Corporations are taking small measures to contribute to the cause, yet I know they can do much more. Let’s get more vocal and push for more effort. Consider Mother-Nature, she's fully integrated, so we should be too. Putting environmental and humanitarian concerns first will allow you to be patriotic.

References

1. Araujo, S. B. L., Braga, M. P., Brooks, D. R., Agosta, S. J., Hoberg, E. P., von Hartenthal, F. W., & Boeger, W. A. (2015). Understanding host-switching by ecological fitting. PLoS One, 10, e0139225. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139225

2. Brooks.  D.R., Hoberg. E.P., Boeger. W.A., & Trivellone. V. (2020). Emerging infectious disease: An underappreciated area of strategic concern for food security. Wileyonlinelibrary.com. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tbed.14009.

3. Marton, K. (2021). The Chancellor: The Remarkable Odyssey of Angela Merkel. Simon & Schuster.

4. Quammen, D. (2012). Spillover Animal Infectoins And The Next Human Pandemic. W.W. Norton.

5. Rodriguez-Morales, A. J., Bonilla-Aldana, D. K., Balbin-Ramon, G. J., Rabaan, A. A., Sah, R., Paniz-Mondolfi, A., Pagliano, P., & Esposito, S. (2020). History is repeating itself: Probable zoonotic spillover as the cause of the 2019 novel Coronavirus Epidemic. Le Infezioni in Medicina, 28, 3– 5.

6. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/science/coronavirus-rats-vietnam.html.