Droughts in Russia have caused the price of wheat to rise dramatically. It is the greatest increase in 50 years and experts fear of a shortage on a world wide scale. Half of Russia’s crops have been destroyed by hear and rain, causing priced to rise by 62%. Stockpiles of wheat are at acceptable levels, but there is fear in countries dependent on importing wheat, such as Egypt, China and India. In 2008, Egypt, Haiti and Pakistan suffered such shortages that riots broke out. Canada, another major wheat exporter, has dealt with excessive rain and Australia with locusts. Russia and the Ukraine supply 18% of the world’s wheat. The US production is expected to be up this year. India had a government-ordered stockpile of grain that they would not release- that supply has rotted away.
If this problem grows, the poor of the world will suffer. Will other nations, especially the US, come to the aid of these people and ensure that they are fed? Also, hopefully, this won’t have a major impact on economies in the world that are already weakened by bad fiscal policies.
Pleven, Liam and Tom Polansek. “Global Wheat Shortage Feared.” The Wall Street Journal. 3 August 2010.
The Russian people have starved before and it is horrible to think that history is repeating itself in this bad manner. Much of this is caused by the extreme weather caused by global warming. Global warming has brought along a lot of problems. The obvious solution to this problem is to create a green world. We may not be able to reverse the amount of greenhouse gases that have been trapped in the atmosphere, but we can limit the amount that is emitted in the future. Creating a sustainable planet that will last longer is important to the health of humans and all living things.
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