Mozambique's riots: The true face of global warming

[tabatha]

It has been a summer of record temperatures -- Japan had its hottest summer on record, as did South Florida and New York. Meanwhile, Pakistan and Niger are flooded and the eastern US is mopping up after hurricane Earl. None of these individual events can definitively be attributed to global warming. But to see how climate change will play out in the 21st century, you needn't look to Britain's Met Office. Look, instead, to the deaths and burning tyres in Mozambique's "food riots" to see what happens when extreme natural phenomena interact with our unjust economic systems.

The immediate causes of the protests in Mozambique's capital, Maputo, and Chimoio about 800km north, are a 30% price increase for bread, compounding a recent double-digit increase for water and energy. When nearly three-quarters of the household budget is spent on food, that's a hike few Mozambicans can afford.

Deeper reasons for Mozambique's price hike can be found a continent away. Wheat prices have soared on global markets over the summer in large part because Russia, the world's third largest exporter, has suffered catastrophic fires in its main production areas. These blazes, in turn, find their origin both in poor firefighting infrastructure and Russia's worst heatwave in over a century. On Thursday, Vladimir Putin extended an export ban in response to a new wave of wildfires in its grain belt, sending further signals to the markets that Russian wheat wouldn't be available outside the country. With Mozambique importing over 60% of the wheat its people needs, the country has been held hostage by international markets.

This may sound familiar. In 2008, the prices of oil, wheat, corn and rice peaked on international markets -- corn prices almost tripled between 2005-2008. In the process, dozens of food-importing countries experienced food riots.

Well-written article.

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-09-05-mozambiques-riots-true-face-of-global-warming

[scarletwoman]

1. I'm glad I clicked on the link and read the whole piece.

As I was reading your excerpt the first thought that came to mind was that it's not just the weather, it's the system of global trade that pushes countries into reliance on food imports instead of developing their own domestic capacity to feed themselves.

I was happy to see that this very issue was in fact very well addressed in the heart of the piece.

Thank you for posting this.
sw