A new study published in Nature looks at how climate change is driving pests and pathogens into new regions.  This migration of 612 different types of “fungi, bacteria, viruses, insects, nematodes, viroids and oomycetes” is marching toward the poles at a rate of around 2 miles a year, threatening food production along the way.  This highlights a possible challenge to international assistance programs that mobilize food assistance to combat hunger and poverty, and to mitigate the impacts of climatic disasters. The issue also raises questions about how concerns over climate change and invasive species factor into the foreign policy and national security calculus of donor nations. (more…)