Climate change stripping nutrients from food, study with Israeli expert warns
A group of international scientists warns that climate change is reducing the nutritional value of global food crops, leading to 'hidden hunger' where people consume calories but lack essential micronutrients. The researchers propose using genetic technologies like CRISPR to enhance crop resilience and nutrient density.
Why it matters
Addressing nutrient decline in crops is essential for global food security as climate change threatens the quality of the world's food supply.
The world has been worrying that climate change will make it more difficult to raise crops to feed mankind. But little attention has been given to “hidden hunger,” in which people have plenty to eat of carbohydrates that can even cause obesity but lack vital vitamins and minerals.Climate change is speeding up the decline in important nutrients in our food, according to 15 leading researchers from four continents – including Prof. Asaph Aharoni of the Institute of Science's plant and environmental sciences department at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot.“This is not a distant threat to health,” he told The Jerusalem Post in an interview.
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