Severe drought reduced wheat production in Australia by as much as 60 percent in 2006. Other forms of climate change led to lower harvests of other farm products throughout the world. In a market economy, a decline in crop output results in excessive demand and spiraling prices, which in turn causes more hunger among people in poor countries.
This situation has given rise to efforts to modify the genes of crop plants with a view to increasing yields and making plants more resistant to drought. Agribusiness in the United States has long been active in gene modification, gaining a dominant position in this field. European countries, on the other hand, have resisted the import of gene-modified products.
The principle of caution has become a basis for opposing gene modification. Opponents of gene-modified plants argue, for example, that pollen from such plants may infect other plants, alter their gene structure and trigger changes in the ecosystem. They also fear humans and animals may suffer health hazards as a result of eating gene-modified products.