1.4Active indicatorFood security and Undernutrition
1.1Heat and health
1.2Health and extreme weather-related events
1.3Climate suitability for infectious disease transmission
Indicator 1.4 · Hazards
Food security and Undernutrition
Food insecurity is a major threat to health and nutrition. Climate change is undermining food security through impacts on crop production, agricultural labour, and food supply chains. Ocean warming, acidification, declining oxygen levels, and coral reef bleaching can also reduce marine food production, with negative effects on food security. This indicator tracks the effects of heatwave and drought exposure on moderate or severe food insecurity and climate-related risks to marine food security.
Headline finding
In 2024, 127.9 million additional people experienced moderate or severe food insecurity due to the higher frequency of heatwave days and drought months compared to 1981–2010
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Figure 1
Impact of Extreme Weather on Food Insecurity
Estimated percentage point change in the proportion of people experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity due to change in heatwave days and drought months occurring during the growth season of four major crops (maize, rice, sorghum, and wheat), compared to 1981-2010
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Figure 2
Sea Surface Temperatures
Average coastal sea surface temperature (°C) by country, Human Development Index (HDI) group, Lancet Countdown region, or World Health Organization (WHO) region, from 1958 to 2025.
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About this indicator
Description
This indicator has two parts. Part (1) tracks change in the proportion of the population reporting moderate or severe food insecurity due to anomalies in heatwave days and frequency of drought months occurring during four major crop (maize, rice, sorghum, and wheat) growing seasons compared to 1981-2010. Part (2) tracks risks to marine food security by monitoring changes in sea surface temperature from 1958 to 2025 and the consumption of farmed- or catch-based fish products.
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Caveats
For Part (1), the survey data may be subject to recall bias, and additional bias may have been introduced during the pandemic where interviews were conducted by phone rather than in-person. For Part (2), GBD estimates of the relationship between this dietary risk factor and cardiovascular diseases do not consider the type or source of seafoo (such as captured versus farmed fish), despite differences in omega-3 content. Fish production was also used as a proxy for consumption; while not entirely accurate, no comprehensive alternative data source exists for all the countries in the analysis.
This indicator was last updated in September 2026
Data sources
Part 1
- European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis 5th Generation (ERA5) hourly and monthly climate data (2m air temperature). Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Climate Data Store (CDS).
- Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations Food Insecurity Experience Scale.
Part 2
- Annual maximum Bleaching Alert Area caused by thermal stress from the NOAA Coral Reef Watch
- DALYs of cardiovascular diseases, for all ages and both sexes, attributable to the risk factor ‘diet low in seafood omega-3 fatty acids’ from the Global Burden of Disease 2023 (1990-2023)
- Capture-based and farmed-based seafood production in the investigated countries from the FAO FishStatJ; Global Fishery and Aquaculture Production Statistics (1950-2023)
- SST measured data from the ORAS5: Ocean Reanalysis System 5 (1958-2025) and SST projected data under SSP1-2.6 and SSP3-7.0 scenarios from CMIP6