Extreme weather like the droughts in Russia, China and Brazil and the flooding in Pakistan and Australia [in … - John Beddington

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John Beddington

Extreme weather like the droughts in Russia, China and Brazil and the flooding in Pakistan and Australia [in 2010] have contributed to a level of food price volatility we haven't seen since the oil crisisof 40 years ago. Unfortunately, this could be just a taste of things to come because in the next few decades the build-up of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere could greatly increase the risk of droughts, flooding, pest infestation and water scarcity for agriculture systems already under tremendous stress.

Decades, Oil, Stress, Tremendous, Weather, Years

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. . . we have got to deal with increased demand for energy, increased demand for food, increased demand for water, and we've got to do that while mitigating and adapting to climate change. And we have but 21 years to do it

Change, Deal, Energy, Water, Years

The onset of more severe climate impacts overseas may also open up temporary opportunities, or 'policy windows. ' These would allow legislators the licence to take specific bold actions which they ordinarily believe would not otherwise be possible or politically acceptable. . . In effect, envisaged solutions can become rapidly translated into practical options for action following a major disaster or near-miss.

Actions, Believe, Envisaged, Impact, Opportunities, Opportunity

The evidence that climate change is happening is completely unequivocal. . . The later governments leave tackling climate change, the harder it will be to combat. . . The variation we are seeing in temperature or rainfall is double the rate of the average. That suggests that we are going to have more droughts, we are going to have more floods, we are going to have more sea surges and we are going to have more storms. These are the sort of changes that are going to affect us in quite a short timescale

Average, Government, Rainfall, Sea, Short, Timescale

Weather patterns over the next 20 or 30 years are going to be determined by the amount of CO2 that is up there now

Co2, Patterns, Weather, Years

Can nine billion people be fed? Can we cope with the demands in the future on water? Can we provide enough energy? Can we do it, all that, while mitigating and adapting to climate change? And can we do all that in 21 years time? That's when these things are going to start hitting in a really big way. We need to act now. We need investment in science and technology, and all the other ways of treating very seriously these major problems. 2030 is not very far away

Adapting, Billion, Cope, Technology, Water, Years