A new study estimates that hundreds of millions of people could be at risk of nutritional deficiencies because of rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, raising serious questions about the future of the developing world’s health.
On top of this, 1.4 billion women of childbearing age and children under five could lose 4 percent of their dietary iron intake, putting them at risk of conditions like anemia.
Evidence has previously shown that the concentrations of protein, iron, and zinc are 3 to 17 percent lower when crops are grown in environments where CO2 levels are 550 parts per million (ppm) compared with crops grown under current atmospheric conditions, in which CO2 levels are just above 400 ppm.
Read more: Climate change and farming: ‘Unpredictability is here to stay’ "This [finding] matters most if you’re close to a threshold of nutrient deficiency and you’re relying on these food crops for a significant share of that particular nutrient in your diet," Myers said.
Staple crops like rice and wheat are the primary food source for more than 3 billion people around the world.
The country expected to bear the biggest burden is India, which the researchers estimated would have an additional 50 million people deficient in zinc, 38 million protein deficient and 502 million women and children vulnerable to diseases associated with iron deficiency by midcentury.
While the science behind plant physiology is "complex," according to Myers, it is thought that higher concentrations of carbon dioxide can cause staple crops like wheat and rice to produce more carbohydrates, like starches and glucose, at the expense of nutrients, like protein, zinc and iron.
What we do know is that at higher CO2 food crops become less nutritious," Myers said.
Global malnutrition to ‘intensify’ Currently, there are already 2 billion people living with nutrient deficiencies worldwide.
According to Ebi, these changes have the "potential to affect everyone."