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In addition to the ongoing drought in the United States, experts warn that the potential for a worldwide food crisis is heightened by extreme and erratic weather across the globe.

A report in The Guardian cites recent flooding in Russia, an encroaching drought in South America, and heavy rains in the UK and says all contribute to a worldwide arithmetic that adds up to an agricultural nightmare.

The report says that deteriorating conditions are leading more and more analysts to draw parallels to events that led up to the 2008 global food crisis “when high food prices sparked a wave of riots in 30 countries across the world, from Haiti to Bangladesh.”

Nick Higgins, a commodity analyst at Rabobank, is quoted as saying: “Food riots are a real risk at this point. Wheat prices aren’t up at the level they got to in 2008 but they are still very high and that will have an effect on those who are least able to pay higher prices for food.”