Human-wrought environmental changes impacting crops, pollinators could harm millions

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-07/hsop-hec071415.php

Public Release: 15-Jul-2015
Harvard School of Public Health

Changing environmental conditions around the globe caused by human activity could negatively impact the health of millions of people by altering the amount and quality of key crops, according to two new studies from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. One study found that decreasing numbers of food pollinators such as bees--falling in part due to pesticide use and destruction of habitats--could lead to declines in nutrient-rich crops that have been linked with staving off disease. A second study found that increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) could lead to lower levels of zinc in food and thus to greatly expanded zinc deficiency.

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