331: The long-term impact of Britain's hottest summer

<div>How much impact will the drought of 2022 have on the food system in the UK, Europe, and around the world?<br> <br> The summer of 2022 will be remembered for a lack of rain, wildfires, and extreme temperatures.<br> <br> For the first time since records began, Britain endured temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius.<br> <br> Records were broken <a href="https://foodmatterslive.com/article/olive-oil-risotto-tomatoes-ingredients-northern-italy-drought/">across Europe</a> too, with a high of 47 degrees recorded in Portugal.<br> <br> Rivers dried up and wildfires broke out in 19 European countries, including England, France, Spain, and Greece.<br> <br> The high temperatures were compounded by a lack of rain. For the UK, 2022 is the driest in nearly 50 years.<br> <br> In this episode of the Food Matters Live podcast, we ask: how is the extreme weather affecting food production?<br> <br> With <a href="https://foodmatterslive.com/video/climate-optimism-shifting-the-narrative-on-climate-change/">climate change</a> promising more summers like this, what does it mean for the future of the global food system?<br> <br> And what might the long-term impacts be of some the challenges we are beginning to face today?<br> <br> <strong>Professor Tim G. Benton, Research Director, Environment and Society Programme, Chatham House<br> </strong><br> Professor Tim G. Benton joined <a href="https://www.chathamhouse.org/">Chatham House</a> in 2016 as a distinguished visiting fellow, at which time he was also dean of strategic research initiatives at the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a>.<br> <br> From 2011-2016 he was the ‘champion’ of the UK’s <a href="https://www.foodsecurity.ac.uk/">Global Food Security programme</a>, which was a multi-agency partnership of the UK’s public bodies (government departments, devolved governments and research councils) with an interest in the challenges around food.<br> <br> He has worked with UK governments, the EU and G20. He has been a global agenda steward of the World Economic For