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  3. Is the world headed for a food crisis? India, Mexico and Yemen have seen food riots this year. What’ s the cause for these short

Is the world headed for a food crisis? India, Mexico and Yemen have seen food riots this year. What’ s the cause for these short

admin2014-08-05  164
问题 Is the world headed for a food crisis? India, Mexico and Yemen have seen food riots this year. What’ s the cause for these shortages and price hikes? Expensive oil, for the most part. The United Nations food and Agriculture Organization(FAO)reported that, at nearly $ 100 a barrel, the price of oil has sent the cost of food imports skyrocketing this year. Add in escalating crop prices, the FAO warned, and a direct consequence could soon be an increase in global hunger—and, as a consequence , increased social unrest. What’ s more, worldwide food reserves are at their lowest in 35 years, so prices are likely to stay high for the foreseeable future.
On the demand side, one of the key issues is biofuels. Biofuels, made from food crops such as corn, sugar cane, and palm oil, are seen as easing the world’ s dependence on gasoline or diesel. But when crude oil is expensive, as it is now, these alternative energy sources can also be sold at market-competitive prices, rising steeply in relation to petroleum. With one-quarter of the US corn harvest in 2010 diverted towards biofuel production, the attendant rose in cereal prices has already had an impact on the cost and availability of food, Critics worry that the gold rush toward biofuels is taking away food from the hungry Leaders in the biofuel industry respond that energy COSTS are more to blame for high food prices than biofuels " Energy is the Mood of the world, so if oil goes up then other commodities follow," Claus Sauter, CEO of German bioenergy firms Verbio said. Others argue that cleaner-burning biofuels could help stem the effects of climate change, another factor i-dentified by the FAO as causing food shortages. Analysts note that scientists believe climate change could be behind recent extreme weather patterns, including catastrophic floods, heat waves and drought. All can diminish food harvests and stockpiles. But so can market forces.
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答案 世界是否要步人一个粮食危机?印度、墨西哥和也门今年已出现了因食物引起的暴乱。造成食物短缺和价格飞涨的原因是什么?主要归咎于昂贵的油价。据联合国粮食和农业组织(FAO)的报道，每桶接近100美元的油价使今年的食品进口成本激增。除了逐步上升的粮食价格，联合国粮食和农业组织还警告说，它导致的另一个直接后果是全球饥荒的增加，这也是社会动乱的重要根源，更糟的是，全球的粮食储备正处于35年以来的最低点，因此，在可以预见的未来，物价很可能保持现有的高水平。 从需求的角度来说，另一个关键性的问题是生物燃料。生物燃料以粮食作物如玉米、甘蔗和棕榈油等为原料，被视为缓解世界对汽油和柴油依赖的有效途径。但是，如果像现在这样，原油价格也很昂贵，那么这些可替代能源也能以有市场竞争力的价格出售，上升幅度可以和石油媲美。2010年，美国把四分之一的玉米产量投入生物燃料的生产，随之而来的谷类价格上涨已经对粮食的供求和价格产生影响。评论家认为，对生物燃料的“淘金热”使食物从解决温饱的轨道上脱离。生物燃料行业的领导者则回应说，能源消耗才是造成粮食价格居高不下的祸首，而不是生物燃料。“能源是全世界的情感维系，如果油价上涨——那么其他商品自然亦步亦趋”，克拉斯?索特，德国生物能源公司的首席执行官如是说。另一些人则争辩道，使用更环保的生物燃料能减轻气候变化带来的影响，这也是联合国粮食和农业组织认为造成食物短缺的另一个因素。分析人士指出，科学家们相信气候变化是导致最近极端天气模式的幕后黑手，这其中包括泛滥的洪水、持续的高温和干旱。这些都能使粮食产量和储备减少。当然，市场因素也不可忽视。
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