Overview

The United Nations (UN) has hired you as a consultant, and your task  is to assess the impact that global warming is expected to have on  population growth and the ability of societies in the developing world  to ensure the adequate security of their food supplies.

Case Assessment

As the world’s population nears 10 billion by 2050, the effects of  global warming are stripping some natural resources from the  environment. As they diminish in number, developing countries will face  mounting obstacles to improving the livelihoods of their citizens and  stabilizing their access to enough food. The reason these governments  are struggling even now is that our climate influences their economic  health and the consequent diminishing living standards of their peoples.  Climate changes are responsible for the current loss of biodiversity as  well as the physical access to some critical farming regions. As such,  these changes in global weather patterns diminish agricultural output  and the distribution of food to local and international markets. These  difficulties will become even more significant for these countries as  the Earth’s climate changes for the worse. Temperatures are already  increasing incrementally, and polar ice caps are melting, so the salient  question is: what does this suggest for developing societies?

The issue before the developing world is not its lack of food, but  rather how to gain access to food. Simply put, changes in our climate  are affecting the global food chain, and hence, the living standards of  entire populations. Added to this is the fact that food is not getting  to where it is needed in time to prevent hunger or starvation. In many  developing countries, shortages are due to governments’ control over  distribution networks rather than an insufficient supply of food itself.  In effect, these governments are weaponizing food by favoring certain  ethnic or religious groups over others. When added to dramatic climate  changes that we are experiencing even now, the future for billions of  poor people looks increasingly dim.

Instructions

You are to write a minimum of a 5 page persuasive paper for the UN  that addresses the following questions about the relationship between  atmospheric weather patterns and food security in the developing world:

1. Climate change and global warming are often used interchangeably,  but they are not the same phenomenon. What are the differences between  the two concepts and what leads to the confusion between them?
2. In 1900, the average global temperature was about 13.7° Celsius  (56.7° Fahrenheit) (Osborn, 2021), but as of 2020, the temperature has  risen another 1.2°C to 14.9°C (58.9°F). According to the Earth and  climate science community, if the Earth’s surface temperature rises  another 2°C (3.6°F), we will suffer catastrophic weather patterns that,  among other things, will raise sea levels, cause widespread droughts and  wildfires, result in plant, insect, and animal extinctions, and reduce  agricultural productivity throughout the world (Mastroianni, 2015 and  Lindsey & Dahlman, 2020). How much credibility do you place in these  projections? Why?
3. There is no question that the Earth’s food sources are threatened  by changes in its weather patterns, but what specific challenges does  climate change pose to the food security of people in the developing  world?
4. There is currently a debate among some multinational lending  agencies like the International Monetary Fund, UNICEF, and AID over the  financial support for food security has been misused by recipient  government officials. On the other hand, U.S. authorities insist that  misuse of its assistance is not occurring because it has strict  monitoring oversight in place. What is your position on this matter? Is  there evidence that financial assistance to developing governments is  being widely misused by government officials?

Guidelines

1. This course requires the use of Strayer Writing Standards (SWS).  For assistance and information, please refer to the SWS link in the  left-hand menu of your course and check with your professor for any  additional instructions.
2. In order to earn full credit, your paper must be divided into at least four full  pages of content (one page to address each of the four questions  above), and include at least a one-half page introduction and a one-half  page conclusion – making a minimum total of five full pages of text.
3. You must use at least seven credible sources (excluding Wikipedia, dictionaries, and encyclopedias) that are appropriate for the subjects under discussion.
4. You must use only double-spacing and not place extra spacing between paragraphs or section headings.

The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is as follows:

• Evaluate the impacts that climate changes are having on the growth of global populations and the security of their food sources.