Climate change news from the ground, in a warming world Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here [[link removed]] Laurie Goering [[link removed]]

Climate editor

Is climate change boosting hunger [[link removed]] around the world?

That much seems clear as a warming planet brings higher sea levels that ruin farmland and wilder weather - from droughts to floods - that affect harvests and shift the range of crop pests.

Scientists say hotter temperatures are reducing the levels of key nutrients in major grains, threatening more malnutrition even if people can get enough food to eat, and making it harder for farmers to work outside and for some crops to grow effectively.

Such problems could soon lead to worsening shortages that could drive everything from higher food prices to food riots and more migration, agriculture and security officials warn.

A child displaced by fighting holds a plate as she waits for a meal in Bukanga transit camp in Uganda. REUTERS/James Akena

But climate change is not the key driver [[link removed]] of what was recently termed the world's first climate-induced famine in drought-hit Madagascar, scientists say.

Instead, widespread poverty - with many families already on the verge of hunger - was a big contributor, alongside deforestation, COVID-19 restrictions, normal climate variation and a lack of investment in key drought-fighting technology such as irrigation, said World Weather Attribution, a scientific research initiative.

"When you just blame everything on climate change then you take all the agency away from local decision makers to actually deal with the disasters," noted Friederike Otto, co-head of initiative - one reason it's worth not automatically pointing the finger at climate change, she said.

Kezvan and her two daughters, Özlem and Songül, migrate with the animals between camps on foot in Anatolia, Turkey, May 13, 2021. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Alba Cambeiro

In Turkey, however, harsher drought - and a rise in the charges land owners levy for animals to pass through - is pushing Turkey's remaining Yoruk nomads to settle [[link removed]], abandoning a 1,000-year-old way of life.

That is a deeply unwelcome change, some say, but "there is little water now ... this year it did not rain much at all."

"For people like us, if we lived in a village there would be no work opportunities - but mountain life is ending," said Mehmet, one of the goat herders correspondent Liz Cookman interviewed during their journey.

How can loans for women help boost conservation? Don't miss our coastal tale [[link removed]] from Kenya.

See you next week!

Laurie

Asia's informal workers risk losing out in green economy push, officials warn [[link removed]]

Asia-Pacific accounts for about two-thirds of the world's 2 billion informal workers, in sectors from industry to agriculture, according to the U.N.

Don't blame climate change for Madagascar's food crisis, scientists say [[link removed]]

Widespread poverty, lack of irrigation, deforestation and COVID-19 restrictions are having a bigger effect than global warming, scientists say

EXPLAINER: Is climate change boosting hunger around the world? [[link removed]]

Extreme weather, rising seas and hotter temperatures are increasingly affecting farmers and their harvests. What needs to change - and what could help?

Loans keep women afloat as they plant fast-vanishing mangroves in Kenya [[link removed]]

Coastal communities rely on mangroves to provide habitats for fish and protect their homes from flooding - and giving financial incentives to plant more can boost conservation

Climate change, COVID-19 and conflict drive 'alarming' rise in aid need [[link removed]]

About 274 million people are expected to require humanitarian assistance next year - a 17% jump from 2020, and one aid agencies will struggle to handle, U.N. official say

Land disputes, climate change pressure Turkish nomads to settle [[link removed]]

As drought and tensions with local farmers threaten their pastoralist lifestyle, the last of Turkey's nomadic Yoruks fear they may soon have to settle down

OPINION: As climate disasters grow, reducing vulnerability is key [[link removed]]

Deaths and losses from extreme weather can be limited – but it takes preparation and investment

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