Climate change refers to changes in global climatic conditions, specifically to long-term changes in weather. Today, climate change is one of the most significant threats to the sustainability of the planet and is largely the result of human activities that causes the emission of greenhouse gases, and hence, changes in the chemical composition of the earth's atmosphere. One of the severest problems caused by climate change is the change in the water cycle as average annual temperatures rise and impact the global climate. Climate change has resulted in decreased wheat production because of droughts. Scientists are attempting to mitigate these effects by establishing seed banks and developing wheat strains that are more heat and drought resistant. Precision agriculture is a way of farming which uses technology to process information to optimise a crop's yield while simultaneously reducing the environmental impact of cultivation. Further environmental factors include energy sources and recycling. Natural resources needed for everyday life can be categorised as renewable and non-renewable, the latter being gradually exhausted. 

Food sustainability

Wheat is the most widely planted crop in the world. With a growing world population, wheat imports and exports have become increasingly important and often have political implications. As a staple food, the cost of bread needs to be low to prevent civil unrest. As an example, the spike in bread prices of 37% in 2007 to 2008 contributed to the Arab Spring, and the storming of the Bastille at the start of the French Revolution in 1789 was, among other troubles, motivated by trying to gain access to arms and grains for bread. 

Today, the unequal distribution of food between different parts of the world has led to two serious, and paradoxical, problems. While a large part of the earth's population has only limited access to food which leads to malnutrition, an even larger number consumes food in excess and suffer obesity as a result. Food waste is also an ever-growing problem, with multiple social, environmental and economic repercussions. This waste of natural resources and energy is contributing to their gradual exhaustion.