— This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on July 2, 2019, Tuesday.
Extreme weather not only impacts our daily life, but also may cause casualties. On economy aspect, the most direct impact is on agriculture. Especially for soybean, corns and wheat, these major crops that related to economy closely.
Generally, extreme weather reduces the crop yields, pushing up its price. Now, there are clear signs of German wheat production will be reduced.
We can see that in the commodity markets, crop futures' price increases as the weather is becoming hot. Price for corn futures traded in CBOT now has reached peak in 5 years, soybean and wheat continue to go up.
Prices for some related products may also rise after the major corps' prices gained. For example, beers, which we often have in summer. In addition to farming, the impact to breeding industry and aquaculture can certainly not be ignored.
If the impact of extreme weather expands, then to consumers, a predictable outcome is we will see an inevitable increase in the price of daily food, such as fruit and pork, which we often buy.
It is important to note that crops tend to be regional and seasonal, so high temperature and heavy rains are not bad to all regions and all kinds of crops. On this aspect, the impacts are different to countries and regions. Climate change also brings some benefits to economy development; we should notice its positive influence. First, addressing climate change will prompt technological advancement. The best example for that would be electric autos.
Now, autos driven by clean energy are encroaching on the global market shares. And agriculture industry which related to climate closely is also continue to research and improve crop cultivation to lower the impact from extreme weather. Some developed regions, such as Indigo Agriculture, located in Boston, US, has got a great progress in research of regenerative agriculture, which global scale is about $15T.
Additionally, extreme weather also creates new jobs. In Cal, US, employment rates for jobs related to climate change gained a lot. So facing the extreme weather, apart from addressing it, we should also take advantage of it.