Thanksgiving Changes, Thanks to Climate Change

Climate change manages to insinuate itself into just about everything we do. It seems like many things we do either spur global warming or are victimized by it.

Climate change acts like an uninvited dinner guest, and now that guest is invading our Thanksgiving dinner. But instead of insulting our meal (like a traditional rude house guest), climate change is raising its cost and lowering its quality. Our warming globe has reduced corn and wheat production by over 3 percent in the last 30 years, which can result in prices that are as much as 20 percent higher. On top of that, climate change could make food prices 30 percent higher in the next two decades.

And we're not just talking about food in general here. We're talking about pecans. Pecans! As in holiday-classic pecans pie! Droughts are wreaking havoc on pecan crops in locations like Texas, the second-biggest pecan producer in the United States and a state that has had major problems with drought, as "What on Earth" has previously noted.

But it's not just prices that are being affected. It's quality too. Warmer temperatures (and the way that turkey livestock is managed in response to those temperatures) can result in tough and dry meat.

So if you find this year's Thanksgiving meal to be tasty and affordable, then that is truly something to be thankful for!
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