May 23, 2012

Mapping Food Security and Climate Change

Global climate change is expected to increase temperatures, strain water resources, and exacerbate extreme weather events, threatening food supplies and putting those least able to cope at risk. The United Nations World Food Programme has developed a Hunger and Vulnerability Index to assist policy and decision makers target areas particularly under pressure, and devise interventions to build resilience and reduce the risk of hunger.

Vulnerability is defined as “the relationship between the degree of climate stress on populations (exposure); the degree of responsiveness to stress (sensitivity); and the ability of populations to adjust to climatic changes (adaptive capacity).” Using an illustrative map, locations that exhibit these qualities are highlighted.

Read the brief by WFP.

Read the article by the UK’s national weather service, the Met Office, which collaborated with WFP.

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