Bloomberg — The world needs to be better prepared to react to the deleterious effects that climate change may have on humans, including dirtier water, crop shortages and a higher risk of disease and food spoilage, European officials said.

Special attention should be given to the impact that warming weather, malnutrition among the poor and more intense storms can have on people, according to a panel of health and food officials speaking yesterday at a forum in Rome marking World Food Day.

United Nations scientists expect rising temperatures this century will affect food and water supplies in central Asia, southern Europe and eastern Europe, according to a World Health Organisation report published this year. The Mediterranean area already is experiencing water scarcity issues.

"In the face of what we know about the serious threats posed by climate change to health, the question today is not whether public health action is necessary but what to do and how to do it," said Marc Danzon, WHO's regional director for Europe.

The World Food Day panel discussion participants included experts from the WHO as well as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the European Food Safety Authority and the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs in Italy, where precipitation has dropped 14 percent in five decades.

Climate change presents "new challenges in the area of food and feed safety as well as in related areas such as plant and animal health," Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle, executive director of the European Food Safety Authority, said in a statement.