Why climate change is a key driver of inflation

The extreme weather, exacerbated by climate change, is also a cause of inflation, which threatens to drive up the already high prices of everything from food to clothing to electronics. Heavy rains, floods, heat waves, and droughts erode agriculture, infrastructure, and the ability of workers to stay on the job, which ends up affecting the supply chain and a shortage of workers.

Chip and solar panel factories in one of China’s key manufacturing regions just shut down as the country tries to ration energy amid a record heatwave in 60 years.

The effects of climate change around the world

In Europe, the prices of dairy products and meat are rising even more as drought destroys land used for grazing and growing cereals for food. In the US, wheat fields in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska and cotton crops in Texas are also wilting due to drought, and in California, processed tomato production is suffering from a lack of rain while workers are starting to quit work at an Amazon delivery center, in part to protest heat exhaustion.

Destruction by historic rains and floods in the US Northeast, North Carolina, Europe, and South Korea demonstrates how ill-equipped our infrastructure is to withstand the impacts of climate change and how difficult it is for communities to rebuild, not to mention, to get back to work.