The Price of Climate Change: EGGS

REFRIDGERATOR GOLD.. … THE COST OF A DOZEN EGGS HIT A 45 YEAR HIGH THIS WEEK..

THE AVERAGE NATIONAL PRICE FOR A DOZEN IS 4-DOLLARS AND 95 CENTS.. BUT AT MOST GROCERY STORES.. its a lot higher

WHICH MEANS NO MORE THREE EGG OMLETS AT MY HOUSE.. WE’RE A TWO EGG OMLETE FAMILY.. AT LEAST FOR NOW.

BIRD FLU.. is DEVASTATING FARMS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.. SINCE DECEMBER.. FARMERS HAD TO CULL MORE THAN 41- MILLION CHICKENS.. MOST OF THOSE WERE EGG LAYERS..

SO FAR THIS YEAR.. ONE IN 12 CONVENITONALLY CAGED EGG LAYING CHICKENS HAS BEEN CULLED..

IT TAKES ABOUT FIVE TO SIX MONTHS BEFORE A NEWBORN BIRD CAN START LAYING EGGS.. SO THE SHORTAGE IS NOT ENDING SOON..

THAT’S WHY SOME STORES. LIKE COSTCO.. TRADER JOE’S.. and ALDI ARE ALL LIMITING HOW MANY YOU CAN BUY.. AND WAFFLE HOUSE IS ADDING AN EGG SURCHARGE OF 50 CENTS..

SO WHY IS THE BIRD FLU SO BAD.. CLIMATE CHANGE.. WE’RE ALL EXPERIENCING ITS REAL-WORLD ECONOMIC IMPACTS .. EVERY MORNING DURING BREAKFAST.

THE EARTH’S WARMER AIR TEMPERATURES ARE CREATING MILDER WINTERS.. AND THAT’S ALLOWING BIRDS TO EXPAND THEIR MIGRATION RANGE.. WHICH MEANS FOREIGN BIRDS CARRYING DISEASES CAN NOW INTERACT WITH NEW BIRD SPECIES..

THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THIS BIRD FLU OUTBREAK STARTED… A FLOCK ARRIVED FROM EUROPE.. THE VIRUS JUMPED TO DOMESTICATED BIRDS.. AND THEN QUICKLY SPREAD.

MAKING IT WORSE.. CLIMATE CHANGE ENHANCED NATURAL DISASTERS LIKE HURRICANES.. AND WILDFIRES.. THESE EVENTS ARE FORCING INFECTED BIRDS TO SEEK NEW NESTING AREAS.. FAR FROM THIER NORMAL HABITATS..

BIRD FLU HAS HIT THE MIDWEST HARD.. ITS THE SAME AREA WHERE WHERE CLIMATE CHANGE ENHANCED DROUGHTS.. FLOODS AND SEVERE STORMS HAVE ALSO CUT POULTRY FEED CROP YIELDS OF CORN AND SOYBEANS..

IOWA’S DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES SAYS THE STATE’S PERCIPITATION HAS INCREASED 8-PERCENT SINCE THE LATE 18-HUNDREDS.. WINTER TEMPERATURES HAVE INCREASED SIX TIMES MORE THAN SUMMER TEMPERATURES.. WHICH CREATES THE PERFECT COMBINATION FOR THE SPREAD OF PATHOGENS LIKE BIRD FLU..

THE EGG SHORTAGE AND BIRD FLU OUTBREAK ARE FAR FROM OVER.. THAT’S WHY THE U-S DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SAYS EGG PRICES WILL INCREASE ANOTHER 20-PERCENT THIS YEAR.. AND WE’LL LIKELY BECOME A ONE-EGG OMLETE FAMILY.. I’M METEOROLOGIST AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST SCOTTIE WITHERS.