Researchers estimate that carbon emissions from transporting food are about six per cent of the global total, with fruit and vegetables the largest contributor.
In a taste of things to come, a secret Office of National Assessment report worried the "carbon dioxide problem" would hurt the nation’s coal industry.
Scientists at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization found it was theoretically possible to turn back the clock on the effect of decades of fossil fuel burning, but the radical step came with “as yet unquantified risks.”