I haven't freaked out yet and I've heard about the impending loss of coffee, chocolate and bourbon due to climate change effects on our agriculture system. But now, the news that there is a possibility of the loss of pasta has taken this to new levels of apocalyptic significance.
Wheat stands to fare the worst in the years ahead, for it is the grain most vulnerable to high temperatures.
How would I and the world for that matter cope without pasta? The Chinese would be without noodles, there could be a cultural heart attack in Italy and what would the kids do without mac and cheese? But this may be what we will be faced with if temperature increases in our atmosphere continue on their current trajectory. Indeed, pricewaterhousecoopers predicts a 6 degrees of warming by 2100 without drastic carbon cuts, a level that could not sustain life on Earth as we know it.
Newsweek
Wheat is a cool-season crop. High temperatures are negative for its growth and quality. […]
Pasta is made from wheat, and a large, growing body of scientific studies and real-world observations suggest that wheat will be hit especially hard as temperatures rise and storms and drought intensify in the years ahead. […]
Extreme and volatile weather patterns are especially threatening to durum [pasta wheat], which is more finicky than conventional wheat varieties. If too much rain falls at the wrong time, durum’s quality can be ruined.
This is not in some far off future, this is something that is happening right now. And to make the situation even more ominous the areas that are suitable for growing durum wheat include the areas that have been determined to contain a huge amount of underground shale oil and the shale oil industry is waiting in the wings for the opportunity to drill.
The record-breaking summer of 2012—which brought the hottest July in U.S. history and the worst drought in 50 years (a drought that continues to afflict 60 percent of the nation)—hints at what may lie ahead. Corn and soybean yields plummeted in 2012, driving up world food prices, increasing hunger, and triggering protests in Indonesia that recalled the street riots that afflicted dozens of nations after the last big food-price jump in 2007–08
This will happen if we don't act agressively and rapidly to mitigate the worst effects of climate change and to cut our addiction to fossil fuels.
Here are some solutions for the rapid decrease of greenhouse gases. It will necessitate all of us working together and is the greatest cause of our generation.
A world without pasta? Don't even think about it!