China's drought and projected wheat harvest could affect global food supply
February 13th, 2011 2:24 pm ET.
A drought taking place in China that hasn't been seen in over 200 years could have dire consequences to the global food supply, and world wheat harvest.
This projection is coming from an article in the New York Times, and cited by the Tibetan Review late last week.
In what is being described as the worst drought in over 200 years for the wheat producing region of Shandong province, the potential for food shortages in nations that import wheat from China are being proclaimed as dire should rainfall not occur in the next few days.
China itself would feel some pain from a poor harvest should it occur, but the fact that they have over $2.85 Trillion in currency reserves would mean they can buy what they need for their own people on the open market. Yet, there is a caveat to this, as their sheer financial power would out-bid and force a rise in prices across the globe that would effect other nations who import food by necessity.
In the Tibetan Review article, any shortage in wheat harvests in China would have a domino effect around the world, which is currently experiencing mass projections for other crops due to weather.
"China's grain situation is critical to the rest of the world ? if they are forced to go out on the market to procure adequate supplies for their population, it could send huge shockwaves through the world's grain markets," Zeigler was quoted as saying. It was China?s self-sufficiency in grain which prevented world food prices from moving even higher when they spiked three years ago, he has noted.
The report noted that world wheat prices were already surging, adding that they had been widely cited as one reason for protests in Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world. It cited a separate United Nations report the week before as saying global food export prices had reached record levels in Jan?11.
With what is occuring in China, Australia, Mexico, Florida, and the central United States in regards to current and projected harvests you would think that we are experiencing world-wide famine, or even end times prophecy unfolding before our eyes. Drought or famine in a single area has been with us for centuries, but a world-wide calamity such as this only comes when the earth itself is changing, or something that will change the course of mankind is at play.
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Continue reading on Examiner.com: China's drought and projected wheat harvest could affect global food supply - National Finance Examiner | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/finance-examiner-in-national/china-s-drought-and-projected-wheat-harvest-could-affect-global-food-supply#ixzz1Du70HRE1
