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Climate Change Could Lead To Nutrient Deficiency For Hundreds of Millions (smithsonianmag.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Smithsonian: According to new research, rising carbon dioxide levels will sap some of the nutrients from our crops and lead to dietary deficiencies in millions of humans. In 2014, field trials of common food crops including wheat, rice, corn and soybeans showed that as the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased, the levels of iron, zinc and protein decreased in the dietary staples by 3 to 17 percent. While the decrease in a few nutrients may not seem important in food secure countries, it could have a big impact in poorer nations.
In the new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, researchers calculated the impact of declining nutrients on human health. According to a press release, the team looked at the impact of rising CO2 on 225 different types of food. Based on population estimates for 2050 and an expected rise of carbon dioxide from about 400 parts per million today to 550 ppm by mid-century, the team found that the nutrient deficiencies of those already suffering will worsen, and 175 million more people could join the 1.2 billion who are zinc deficient and 122 million people would be added to the 622 million who don't receive enough protein. About 1.4 billion women of childbearing age and children under 5 could see their iron intake drop by about 4 percent.
In the new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, researchers calculated the impact of declining nutrients on human health. According to a press release, the team looked at the impact of rising CO2 on 225 different types of food. Based on population estimates for 2050 and an expected rise of carbon dioxide from about 400 parts per million today to 550 ppm by mid-century, the team found that the nutrient deficiencies of those already suffering will worsen, and 175 million more people could join the 1.2 billion who are zinc deficient and 122 million people would be added to the 622 million who don't receive enough protein. About 1.4 billion women of childbearing age and children under 5 could see their iron intake drop by about 4 percent.
Lower concentrations per amount.
How much more volume did they have in the crop?
CO2 causes fairly large increases in crop yield, which would cause an overall increase in nutrition. The 5% to 10% decrease in some nutrients would be more than made up by the 30%+ increase in total crop volume they see with the study's level of CO2 - and calories are the primary thing to worry about when you're starving to death.
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The primary driver for climate change is the sun. If we're exiting the Quaternary Ice Age after a couple hundred million years (and it sort of looks like we are. starting 10k years ago), it's not because of CO2.
You can blame CO2 (and other "greenhouse" gasses) for the rapidity of climate change if you like, and that's important to us humans. But if the pattern for the past millions of years was holding, rising CO2 would mean temps were falling slowly rather than plummeting. It's not human activity that broke that pattern.
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