Rising global temperatures are associated with inflation in food prices, both in regions that are already hotter and in countries outside the tropics like the U.S., according to a study published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.
Researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the European Central Bank studied monthly price indexes between 1996 and 2021 in 121 countries. The study found food prices are the monthly inflation signal most strongly associated with the climate, which researchers attributed to the supply shocks associated with temperature increases. Both new milestones for extreme heat and shifts in average temperatures are associated with longer-term inflation. In European countries, where the summer of 2022 broke temperature records, that heat was accompanied by food inflation increases of 0.43 percentage points to 0.93 percentage points.
The research also projected that between now and 2035, those same temperature increases could lead to “climateflation” increases of up to 3 points. The same European food inflation driven by last year’s extreme heat in Europe would be amplified 30 percent to 50 percent in 2035, according to modeling for that year’s temperature increases.
Kroger: “We repeat, this has nothing to do with our records profits. This is climate change. You should recycle more.”
It can be both
Did they account for deliberate shrinkflation by grocery conglomerates? Hard to imagine that isn’t a larger contributor.
Shrinkflation has turned me off to some of my favorite brands. Used to love Donkey Chips. Great crunch, the right amount of salt, great flavor. Then, they raised the price 25% and shrunk the bag 25%. Now I eat way fewer chips and if I do, I buy them from Costco.
Yeah, I used to monster a big bag of takis with zero self control. Now just spending like that would kill me in weeks, rather than the thirty years I was aiming for. Mixed blessing in my case.
Yeah, I can’t afford to eat. So, I started smoking cigarettes again. Cheaper to buy a pack of smokes and skip two meals than it is to cook.
Well, that’s not why I started again. It was relationship stress. But, at least my grocery bills went down!!
Sorry bud. Have you tried baking? It’s cheaper than buying bread and it has an undeniably calming aspect.
I do like baking. Used to keep a sourdough starter but haven’t messed with it for a few years. Probably cheaper than smoking, both economically and on my health.
Suuuuure. Nothing to do with the Wars around the world, nothing to do with greedflation, nothing to do with companies turning every higher profits. “Climate change - sorry, we can’t do nothing about that, but hike prices again”
