Category: Climate Change

The recent flooding in Iowa in Cedar Rapids and other cities and of prime farmlands adds to already considerable pressures on the food inflation front. Consumer food inflation woes will not be going away any time soon.

The floods were of record setting proportions. In fact, long standing records were not just broken, they were shattered. Flood waters crested at a level that was 12 feet higher than the previous record set more than 150 years ago. Flood damage to properties and to crops will be in the hundreds of millions of Dollars.

Iowa is one of the prime corn producing regions of the United States. News of the extensive flooding of corn producing areas caused rounds of panic buying of corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). By week’s end corn futures went over $7.00 a bushel for the first time ever.

while we keep hearing that one weather event does not mean that climate change is under way I maintain that a whole series of events has to be taken seriously in that regard. So far weather events for 2008 have been drastic in the US as they have been around the world. With the US hurricane season just getting underway the next few months will be highly interesting. So far in 2008 tornado and severe thunderstorm activity has lead to a record number of storm related deaths. With the hurricane season kicking in this record is likely to be extended.

It looks to me to be past time to consider the prospect of a dangerous and long term climate change due to global warming as a very real possibility. Just ask the poor people living in Cedar Rapids what they now think about climate change. No one was prepared for the level of flooding that they are still trying to cope with.

For a long time, money used for good will was called charity, while money used to make more money was called investing. No more.

Today, the two concepts are forming into a financial arena called socially responsible investing. Both investors and mutual fund companies are implementing this new idea and discovering that they can be profitable and at the same time do some good for the environment and society.

“Socially responsible investing means you don’t have to compromise your own personal beliefs to make money on Wall Street… whatever those beliefs are,” states Bob Guthrie, who is an investment broker with A.G. Edwards in Burlington, Vt.

The idea of selectively choosing stocks for social reasons dates back to the early 1900s, Guthrie said, when church members banded together and refused to invest in tobacco or alcohol companies. The trend continued with investors dodging corporations involved in the Vietnam War, he added, and most recently revolved around companies investing in South Africa.

But growth in this form of selective investing has skyrocketed during the past couple of years as more and more individuals and corporations have moved social and environmental consciousness into the mainstream of their investments. And this impact is being felt worldwide.

Rob Kruger, vice president of portfolio management at Progressive Asset Management says that with help from stockholders, business practices concerning the environment are starting to change. He said while the issues may vary, companies are realizing they will suffer if they aren’t viewed as being socially and environmentally responsible.

“As this investing community continues to grow, a lot of proposals are being put forth by investors at annual shareholder meetings,” Kruger said. “A whole range of issues and activities is now being addressed.”

Global warming is an issue that I have occasionally written about at Article Discovery as I believe that the issue should be of real concern to anyone who hopes to be around after 2050 or so, perhaps much sooner than that given the nature of positive feedback loops.

However, I grant you that the effects of global warming can be beneficial at some northern locations. For example the climate of the UK and of countries like Canada (Northern regions) , Finland, Sweden, and Norway may become far more temperate than they are today. Their long cold winters could be transformed into enjoyable weather.

The following video shows how this weather transformation may not be so unpleasant for people in the right locations. Of course, if you are living in Bangladesh the results will not be nearly as pleasant. In fact most of the people now living in Bangladesh will probably have to relocate if they can in order to survive. But what nation can possibility take in millions and millions of climate refugees?

Global Warming - Celebrity bloopers here

Food inflation riots break out in Haiti as people take to the streets to protest price increases up to 50% over the past year for basic items like cooking oil and rice.

Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere so the increased prices for food has been especially painful for those living in that impoverished nation.

With prices of basic food items raising at an accelerating rate worldwide can further food riots be expected? I would say that unless the impossible can happen fast and the production of food commodities has a great leap forward the answer to that question is a big yes.

Demand is outpacing supply in rice, corn, wheat, and soybeans and there is only so much land suitable to grow these crops. Food stockpiles of these vital crops are at nearly 30 year lows. There is hardly any cushion of reserves to fall back on.

Unfortunately, even in a rich nation (for some) like America the cost of food is beginning to be a concern. There are already a record number of Americas receiving food stamps. As prices of food and other items rise the budgets of many working class American families are under great stress.

Could there ever be food riots in America? I hope we don’t have occasion to find out. But the effects of climate change that may cause long term, really long term, drought conditions across much of the food production regions of the US are a cause for concern.

People can get lean and mean in a hurry when there is the danger of starving.

If the forecasts of renowned scientist James Lovelock are accurate staying alive in the 21st century will be quite the challenge for billions of people.

According to Lovelock, author of “The Revenge of Gaia”, and a pioneer in measuring minute changes in the composition of the atmosphere, by the year 2050 much of the surface of the earth will begin to resemble our neighboring red, quite dry planet, Mars. By the year 2100 billions of humans will have died from starvation, disease, and the lack of clean drinking water. Lovelock estimates that only about 20% of the earth’s human population will survive the long term effects of global warming.

Lovelock names a few locations that will remain as temperate islands of comfort in a world full of misery, death, and destruction. England, the Scandinavian countries, and Canada are expected to become beacons of hope for those climate refugees who must abandon their homes due to impossible living conditions, including vast parts of the United States.

One of the problems is this. The nations that are blessed with favorable living conditions in a dry inhospitable world will not likely welcome millions upon millions of climate refugees. Surely they will at an early date cut off access to their countries. After all, in a world where fresh clean water and ample food supplies are scarce and at a premium it will become every man, women, and nation for themselves. Billions of humans will be doomed to hanging on for as long as they can under harsh conditions.

The difficult thing for planning purposes is that Lovelock’s predictions are not certain. No one wants to appear foolish by selling their property, quitting their job, and moving to a small log cabin in say the far northern regions of Canada in order to avoid a disaster that may never come. At least in their lifetimes.