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16 August 2021

Climate scientists warn of a future of intermittent supply chain and food shortages

The past year has seen a series of increasingly common and far-reaching supply chain shortages that have ground to a halt the manufacturing of everything from cars to computers and led to gaps on supermarket shelves. Many of these shortages have been directly connected to the pandemic and its effects on manufacturing and global transit, yet, scientists warn, this is only a preview of the coming decade which will see an increasing amount of unreliability in terms of raw material and component part availability.

The culprit here, however, will be climate change and the drastic changes induced by it in weather patterns which cause notable shifts in climate conditions. These unstable conditions make growing previously reliable produce and plants in certain areas less so and also cause extreme storms and floods which then lead to breaks in logistics chains that can hinder the efficient delivery of products and goods.

These supply chain shortages are but one of the emerging, prominent impacts on the global economy and our everyday lives brought about by climate change and scientist urge us to take heed now to avoid ever more drastic changes.

Read more about the impact on supply chains at Salon 

Read more about the impact on food supplies from the Guardian