Higher temperatures mean higher food prices, new inflation study finds

"Weather and climate shocks" will cause the cost of food to rise 1.5 to 1.8 percentage points annually within a decade or so, researchers say.

Looking at monthly price tags of food and other goods, temperatures and other climate factors in 121 nations since 1996, researchers calculate that "weather and climate shocks" will cause the cost of food to rise. Those numbers may look small, but to banks like the US Federal Reserve that fight inflation, they are significant, said study lead author Max Kotz, a climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.

And by 2060, the climate-triggered part of inflation should grow, with global food prices predicted to increase 2.2 to 4.3 percentage points annually, the study said.Gernot Wagner, a climate economist at Columbia University's business school who wasn't part of the research, said what he calls "climateflation" is "all too real and the numbers are rather striking".

"There are these productivity shocks that we know about from climate change, from the weather phenomena caused by climate change, from heat waves and so forth to reduce agricultural productivity," Dr Kotz said.The study points to 2022's European heatwave as a good example. Dr Kotz said the analysis found the inflationary pressure on food and other prices was worse in areas and seasons that are hotter.

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