Impact of Climate Change on Quality and Nutritional Value of Food

Climate change is recognized as a significant manmade global environmental challenge. It is also treated as a threat. The changing climatic environment is a major cause for concern and is now the greatest environmental challenge facing the world today. The increasing unnatural accumulation of green house gases in the atmosphere is now causing global climate change. Carbon emissions related to human activities have been significantly contributing to the elevation of atmospheric (CO₂) and temperature. However, the beneficial direct impact of elevated (CO₂) on food production and quality can be offset by other effects of climate change, such as elevated temperatures and altered patterns of precipitation. Changes in food quality and nutritional value in a warmer, high-CO₂ world are to be expected, e.g., decreased protein and mineral nutrient concentrations, as well as altered lipid composition. We point out that studies related to changes in food quality and nutritional value as a consequence of global climatic changes should be priority areas for further studies, particularly because they will be increasingly associated with food security.