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UN claimed Madagascar experienced ‘world’s first climate-induced famine’ – But new study shows poverty, not climate, caused food crisis

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/01/poverty-not-climate-breakdown-caused-madagascars-food-crisis-finds-study

Poverty, not climate breakdown, caused Madagascar’s food crisis, finds study

 Environment editor

Poverty and a heavy reliance on annual rains are the key factors behind the devastating food crisis in southern Madagascar not climate breakdown, a new study finds.

A million people in the region are struggling for food following the worst drought in 30 years. But the scientific analysis did not show a convincing link to global heating, despite the World Food Programme describing it as the “world’s first climate-induced famine”.

The researchers said their work nonetheless highlighted the “moral imperative” to reduce poverty and improve infrastructure in places that would suffer increasingly extreme weather as global heating mounted.

Previous analyses have shown clearly that the climate emergency has made severe heatwaves much more likely. Global heating is also increasing the risk of more complex events, such as droughts and floods, but it is harder to separate the influence of heating of these from natural variability, which is high in Madagascar.

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Flashback Nov 2021: UN: Madagascar could be experiencing world’s first ‘climate-induced famine,’ People [are] already living through climate change. And the world has enough money. It’s not a question of money” – UN Special Envoy, Dr. Agnes Kalibata.

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