Climate Changed
British Fish and Chips May Never Be This Cheap
- Hotter, dryer weather could cut U.K. potato area by 74%: group
- Potato price tripled after summer heatwave, hitting consumers
Photographer: Graham Barclay/Bloomberg
This article is for subscribers only.
The future of one of Britain’s favorite staples could be at risk as climate change threatens areas for growing potatoes, as well as affecting other fruit and vegetables, scientists from the University of Leeds said.
Climate change is making the kind of heatwaves that hurt U.K. crops last year more likely, according to Piers Forster and Kate Sambrook of the university’s Priestley International Centre for Climate. Under a high emissions scenario, maximum summer temperatures could be up to 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer by the 2050s, their projections based on recent Met Office data show.