Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD

[vox_mundi]

Scientists Warn of Too Many Pink Salmon in North Pacific
https://phys.org/news/2019-08-scientists-pink-salmon-north-pacific.html

Pink salmon are wildly abundant in odd-number years and less abundant in even-number years. They comprise nearly 70 percent of what's now the largest number of salmon populating the North Pacific since last century.

But an increasing number of marine researchers say the voracious eaters are thriving at the expense of higher-value sockeye salmon, seabirds and other species with whom their diet overlaps.

In addition to the flourishing wild populations of pink salmon, Alaska hatcheries release 1.8 billion pink salmon fry annually. And hatcheries in Asian countries contribute an additional 3 billion-plus fish.

"We're putting too many mouths to compete with the wild fish out there," says Nancy Hillstrand, owner of a fish processing company near Homer, Alaska, who has been lobbying Alaska wildlife authorities to reduce hatchery output.

A 2018 study estimated 665 million adult salmon in the North Pacific. Pink salmon dominated at 67%, followed by chums at 20% and sockeye at 13%. Salmon abundance since the late 1970s has been enhanced by favorable ocean conditions but hatcheries account for 15% of the pinks, 60% of the chums and 4% of the sockeyes.

[DrTskoul]

Gap Growing Between Irrigated, Rain-Fed Crop Yields
https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/today/article/gap-growing-between-irrigated-rain-fed-crop-yields/



A 65-year comparative analysis between U.S. yields of irrigated and rain-fed crops has sounded a message to farmers, land managers and policymakers: Mind the gap.

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln's Suat Irmak and Meetpal Kukal analyzed the annual yields of nine crops—corn, soybean, spring wheat, winter wheat, sorghum, cotton, barley, oats and alfalfa—on a county-by-county basis from 1950 to 2015.

Irmak and Kukal found that the yield gaps—differences in food produced with irrigation vs. rainfall alone—generally widened over that span, a trend they suspect stems partly from climate change and technological advances in irrigation management.



Irmak and Kukal likewise quantified the number of years that given counties failed to generate any meaningful yields of a crop when relying only on rainfall, which some farmers might factor into long-term risk assessments, the researchers said.

"There's a bigger risk with rain-fed (agriculture)," Irmak said. "There's an overall, long-term average value for rain-fed yields, but that doesn't mean you are going to get that yield every year. That's why we consider irrigation an insurance policy that normalizes things and provides stable productivity under varying climatic conditions."

... "Irrigation on 24 percent of the cultivated land produces 40 percent of the total global food supply," Irmak said. "If we stopped irrigating today, more people would suffer or worse due to substantially reduced food, fiber and feed production, especially in areas that are already experiencing a significant shortage of supplies.

As long there is water to irrigate with....

[TerryM]

^^
and energy to power the pumps.
Terry

[Tom_Mazanec]

Farmers getting online on cutting carbon output:
No-tillage seeding, regenerative cattle farming
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/sustainable-farming-canada-un-report-1.5243184
Bio-char, putting acreage back to prairie
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/08/us/iowa-farmers-climate-change-weir-wxc/index.html
Indian farmers could cut co2 78% just by not burning rice residue:
https://cosmosmagazine.com/climate/not-burning-would-be-a-win-win-for-indian-farmers

[Sigmetnow]

Climate crisis: Goldsmiths university has banned beef to help fight emergency

Beef burgers, burritos and other enduring student dishes are off the menu at a London university -- in order to help the fight against the climate crisis.
Goldsmiths University in London will be scrapping all beef products from its campus, the institution's new chief has announced, as it seeks to become carbon neutral by 2025. ...

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/13/uk/goldsmiths-beef-ban-climate-scli-gbr-intl/index.html

[El Cid]

I think the beef ban is a huge mistake although I have not eaten any meat or fish in 30 years.
First, animals (cattles as well) do have an important place in regenerative agriculture and they can be bred without any adverse effects on the climate or the planet in general.
Second, it is always very harmful to ban things. Economic incentives are always better (see the historic example of taxes on alcohol vs. total abolition; or the current insane war on drugs). Create a carbon tax, or even a beef tax if you will but do not ban.

[kassy]

That is true but this is only one university doing this. So someone will open up a McBeef or something near there and get rich. 

[Sebastian Jones]

I think the beef ban is a huge mistake although I have not eaten any meat or fish in 30 years.
First, animals (cattles as well) do have an important place in regenerative agriculture and they can be bred without any adverse effects on the climate or the planet in general.
Second, it is always very harmful to ban things. Economic incentives are always better (see the historic example of taxes on alcohol vs. total abolition; or the current insane war on drugs). Create a carbon tax, or even a beef tax if you will but do not ban.

Yes, livestock can have an important place in regenerative agriculture. However, the vast majority of meat consumed in the developed world plays no role in regenerative agriculture, quite the contrary.
Yes, taxes designed to shift behaviour away from harmful practices is a preferred method over regulation, usually. However, Canada's carbon tax specifically exempts agriculture....

[Sebastian Jones]

Our agri-food systems perversely discourage ecologically beneficial behaviour, but despite this, some farmers are persisting in doing the right thing.
One caveat about No-Till farming: No-Till facilitated by RoundUp ready cops is of no help.
No-Till combined with mulching during harvest is most definitely a good thing.
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/08/12/news/farmers-look-capture-carbon-warnings-climate-shocks-grow-louder
Extract:
"It's not the cattle, it's our management that's the problem. To concentrate them all into a huge feedlot, that's an ecological disaster."

Hjertaas said farmers tend to be traditional and slow to change, but financial incentives could go a long way to making the switch and overcome cost and uptake challenges.

"I'm all for a carbon tax, we need to tax bad behaviour. But what's missing is we need to reward the good behaviour."

[Sigmetnow]

All the more reason to ban fossil fuel vehicles in the city....

World's largest urban farm to open – on a Paris rooftop
The 14,000m² farm is set to open in the south-west of Paris early next year
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/aug/13/worlds-largest-urban-farm-to-open-on-a-paris-rooftop

[vox_mundi]

Putting brains into farming equipment is a no-brainer, since it's a semi-structured environment that's generally clear of wayward humans driving other vehicles.

[DrTskoul]

Some of the largest ones are practically unmanned today....

[vox_mundi]

https://www.caseih.com/northamerica/en-us/Pages/campaigns/autonomous-concept-vehicle.aspx

[Tom_Mazanec]

https://e360.yale.edu/features/with-new-perennial-grain-a-step-forward-for-eco-friendly-agriculture
A cereal and beers are now being made with a new variety of perennial grain known as Kernza. Proponents say this marks a significant advance for a new agriculture that borrows from the wild prairie and could help ensure sustainable food production in a warming world.

[El Cid]

Unfortunately Kernza is not (yet?) working, it is not a soultion, since its yield is miniscule - but this effort is great. However, regenerative ag works with well known annuals (eg wheat, corn, soy etc) and can build soil AND put carbon (from the air) into the soil.

[Tom_Mazanec]

Failing to take climate action promises to create a food crisis, from food scarcity to job loss. Climate is cruel in that it’s changing in the land space are even more far-reaching that one might imagine. Rising temperatures, for example, may impact the nutritional value of crops.
Our food system and climate are at a tipping point — the decisions farmers make now, and over the next dozen planting seasons, can make all the difference. It’s not yet too late to plant the seeds of climate action, so we grow toward solutions and away from the worst impacts of climate change. 
https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/457864-acting-now-to-protect-our-land-and-our-farmers

A herd of cows is living on a floating farm in the middle of Europe's busiest port of Rotterdam.
The animals are part of an experiment to produce food more sustainably, and closer to people.
Peter van Wingerden, founder of Beladon, told BBC Radio 5 Live: "No matter how much rain falls, no matter how high sea level goes, we can always produce our life-essential, healthy food."
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-49374766/the-floating-farm-for-cows

Five ways UK farmers are tackling climate change
1. Sending in robots
2. Using drones to map fields
3. Planting more trees
4. Keeping livestock outside for longer
5. Cutting methane emissions
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-49044072

[sidd]

Went thru a considerable section of high plains/midwest recently. Crops dont seem too affected by the flooding, leading me to agree with USDA on yields. Still can see patches of bare land where the soil was too wet during planting, and some fields left fallow after flooding, but not nearly as bad as it looked earlier in the year.

sidd

[Klondike Kat]

Went thru a considerable section of high plains/midwest recently. Crops dont seem too affected by the flooding, leading me to agree with USDA on yields. Still can see patches of bare land where the soil was too wet during planting, and some fields left fallow after flooding, but not nearly as bad as it looked earlier in the year.

sidd

I am tending to agree.  I have not driven through the worst of the flood areas, but other areas are showing robust corn fields.  In Michigan, the sweet corn is a little late, but otherwise is looking fine.

[sidd]

Worst i saw was nebraska, along the missouri and the Platte. I didn't go further south.

All the crops seem young for this stage of the year, farmers planted late. But healthy.

sidd

[petm]

[ShortBrutishNasty]

https://e360.yale.edu/features/with-new-perennial-grain-a-step-forward-for-eco-friendly-agriculture
A cereal and beers are now being made with a new variety of perennial grain known as Kernza. Proponents say this marks a significant advance for a new agriculture that borrows from the wild prairie and could help ensure sustainable food production in a warming world.

Sorry, Mr. Prolific Poster.

Anything out of Yale University just curls the hair on the back of my neck.

Sorry.

I do this thing called, "Follow The Money."

[nanning]

Nice short video petm. Interviewing three women scientists.
I miss women on this forum but they maybe hiding behind a safe name? 

[nanning]

    August rainfall brings UK wheat harvest to ‘shuddering halt’
National Farmers’ Union says only farms in south-east England able to start harvest

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/19/august-rainfall-brings-uk-wheat-harvest-to-shuddering-halt

some excerpts:

Guy Smith said farmers outside the south-east of England had been left unable start their harvest their crop because of heavy rainfall this month.

He said the wet weather had made it more difficult to use combine harvesters in the fields.“It has brought the harvest to a shuddering halt for the past 10 days, outside of the south-east,” he said.

[Tom_Mazanec]

Jay Inslee Wants to Transform How America Farms and Eats
https://earther.gizmodo.com/jay-inslee-wants-to-transform-how-america-farms-and-eat-1837444475

“The plan covers wide range of issues that address climate challenge to agriculture sustainability and environmental health by covering actual farming practices and research that will help implement best management practices,” Mahdi Al-Kaisi, a soil management expert at Iowa State, told Earther. “It seems comprehensive in addressing the research, implementation, funding, and social needs in agriculture production systems that can mitigate climate change and its impact on food security and the environment.”

[Klondike Kat]

Corn futures have fallen to the lowest levels of the year, erasing all gains during the wet spring.  Corn harvest is now expected to top last years' near-record level.  Other crops are seeing similar trends.

[Tom_Mazanec]

Climate Change Is Likely to Devastate the Global Food Supply. But There's Still Reason to Be Hopeful
https://time.com/5663621/climate-change-food-supply/

We have good reason to believe we’re headed toward nothing. By the middle of this century, a 2014 IPCC report reads, the world may reach “a threshold of global warming beyond which current agricultural practices can no longer support large human civilizations.” But that fate hinges on a key assumption — that current agricultural practices won’t change. And if my research has taught me anything, it’s that farmers, scientists, activists and engineers the world over are radically rethinking food production.

[nanning]

Climate Change Is Likely to Devastate the Global Food Supply. But There's Still Reason to Be Hopeful
<snip>
But that fate hinges on a key assumption — that current agricultural practices won’t change. And if my research has taught me anything, it’s that farmers, scientists, activists and engineers the world over are radically rethinking food production.

In my opinion and I am by no means an expert,
these voices are not heard by most farmers.

Most farmers only hear the voices of agri-business, their government lackeys and bankers.
Most national agriculture organisations speak with the voice of agri-business.
Agriculture Universities are heavily influenced by agi-business.
Most agriculture magazines are a voice of agri-business.

These wrong information 'bubbles' (lies) are holding back large scale changes.
Almost the same as what happens with the climate change and bio-collapse truths.

[bligh8]

Climate Change Is Likely to Devastate the Global Food Supply. But There's Still Reason to Be Hopeful
<snip>
But that fate hinges on a key assumption — that current agricultural practices won’t change. And if my research has taught me anything, it’s that farmers, scientists, activists and engineers the world over are radically rethinking food production.

In my opinion and I am by no means an expert,
these voices are not heard by most farmers.

Most farmers only hear the voices of agri-business, their government lackeys and bankers.
Most national agriculture organisations speak with the voice of agri-business.
Agriculture Universities are heavily influenced by agi-business.
Most agriculture magazines are a voice of agri-business.

These wrong information 'bubbles' (lies) are holding back large scale changes.
Almost the same as what happens with the climate change and bio-collapse truths.

Every lie told incurs a depth to the truth* This truth will unfold rather dramatically over the next decade or two & millions of people will pay for these "lies".

*read or heard that somewhere....

bligh

[nanning]

I agree with your view bligh8.

Just to add some thoughts:
I think maybe you're 3 orders of magnitude wrong on the amount of people affected
And seeing the increasing pace of climate change effects in this decade, I estimate two more decades as a conservative range.

[Tom_Mazanec]

Big Ag Is Sabotaging Progress on Climate Change
https://www.wired.com/story/big-ag-is-sabotaging-progress-on-climate-change/

As with most UN climate proposals, these seem like common sense, yet little seems to change. The reason is clear: the corporate interests threatened by such reforms are large and dominant, and they use their undue influence over governments to prevent progress.

In this case, it’s not fossil fuel companies that are most strongly implicated, it’s agribusinesses. As I repeatedly found in five years of research for my recent book, they are a powerful obstacle to change, they are only getting more powerful, and they have hijacked government policies all over the world to advance their interests.

[petm]

Cross-posting from basic physics thread.

[Tom_Mazanec]

Grubs up: a third of Britons think we'll be eating insects by 2029
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/sep/02/grubs-up-a-third-of-britons-think-well-be-eating-insects-by-2029

With UK farmers facing pressure from the climate crisis, pests and plant diseases – alongside the need to boost productivity and compete with imports – research released on Monday claims that 32% of British adults think that regularly tucking into cricket snacks and buffalo worm burgers will become commonplace within 10 years.

The research from the Agricultural Biotechnology Council (ABC), an industry group promoting the use of controversial genetically modified (GM) crops in the UK, also suggests that 72% of people support increased emphasis on technology, such as new plant breeding techniques including gene editing, to tackle crop shortages.

[Tom_Mazanec]

For one Brunswick County farmer, it feels like hurricanes “have become the new norm”
https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2019/09/05/for-farmer-hurricanes-have-become-the-new-norm-dorian/

“Farmers are still recuperating from previous storms and are counting on this year to be a good year financially,’’ said Tutor-Marcom, who was raised in a farm family and who has two sons in the business. “Given that many are already struggling financially, another catastrophic weather event can put them out of business. They simply can’t continue to take substantial losses.”

[Sigmetnow]

Trump’s EPA Said This Bee-Killing Insecticide Is Safe, Now Beekeepers Are Suing

Today, beekeepers, represented by Earthjustice, sued Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for allowing sulfoxaflor, a bee-killing pesticide linked to a nation-wide honeybee die-off, back on the market. The lawsuit comes as beekeepers around the country lost over 40 percent of their colonies this last year.

Touted as a “next generation neonicotinoid,” sulfoxaflor is like other bee-killing neonicotinoid insecticides: it is systemic, meaning it is absorbed into the growing plant, making it toxic to insects for many days thereafter. When foraging honeybees bring back to the hive pollen and nectar tainted with sulfoxaflor, the effect on the entire colony can be catastrophic.

“Honeybees and other pollinators are dying in droves because of insecticides like sulfoxaflor, yet the Trump administration removes restriction just to please the chemical industry,” said Greg Loarie, Earthjustice attorney. “This is illegal and an affront to our food system, economy, and environment.”
...
Sulfoxaflor is produced by Corteva formerly Dow AgroSciences. Sulfoxaflor can kill adult bees at low doses, and when brought back to the hive it can impair the colony’s ability to breed, forage, fight disease and survive the winter, scientists say. ...

https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2019/sulfoxaflor-beekeepers-sue-trump-epa

[vox_mundi]

Lack of Reporting on Phosphorus Supply Chain Dangerous for Global Food Security
https://phys.org/news/2019-09-lack-phosphorus-chain-dangerous-global.html

A new study conducted at Stockholm University and the University of Iceland shows that while Phosphorus is a key element to global food security, its supply chain is a black box. This can lead to social, political and environmental issues, which in turn can create phosphorus supply crises. The results are published in the article "Opening access to the black box: The need for reporting on the global phosphorus supply chain" in Ambio, A Journal of the Human Environment.

"Cradle-to-grave reporting along the phosphorus supply chain can reveal the untold story about the social, environmental, ethical and economic price we pay for the food we see on our supermarket shelves. It can also help countries—most of which are dependent on phosphate imports—tailor better policies to decrease the vulnerability of their agricultural sector," says Eduard Nedelciu, researcher at the Department of Physical Geography at Stockholm University and main author of the study.

... The study, which is part of a larger European research project called Adaptation to a New Economic Reality (https://adaptecon.com/) identifies four main challenges with reporting on phosphorus and phosphate fertilizers.

- First, terminologies and methodologies that are used to report on phosphate deposits are not harmonized and sometimes not transparent—this makes estimations of reserves and resources inaccurate and unreliable.

- Second, the phosphorus supply chain has up to 90% losses, which are poorly documented. Losses occur along all segments of the supply chain, and this fragmentation of information makes it hard to accurately report on how much is lost and where. Better reporting could help design methods to decrease losses and increase efficiency.

- Third, there are environmental and social consequences occurring along the supply chain of phosphorus. For example, mining and processing phosphate rock is polluting water bodies and is dangerous to human health. Moreover, the phosphorus that leaks from agricultural land and sewage systems into the water can cause eutrophication and the so-called "dead-zones": areas in our oceans and seas where life cannot be supported anymore. But there is a social and ethical aspect to phosphorus too. Phosphate rock is increasingly mined from contested areas, such as Western Sahara, in what has been described by some as "illegal exploitation."

- Fourth, open access to data along the phosphorus supply chain is lacking. The authors reinforce the idea that public knowledge on phosphorus and its supply chain is necessary due to its direct link to food, a basic human right. Also, reporting on phosphorus can help better assess progress on a number of global indicators for sustainability, such as the Sustainable Development Goals.

Open Access: Claudiu-Eduard Nedelciu et al, Opening access to the black box: The need for reporting on the global phosphorus supply chain, Ambio (2019).

[vox_mundi]

Global Warming Threatens Availability of Essential Brain-Building Fatty Acid
https://phys.org/news/2019-09-global-threaten-availability-essential-brain-building.html

By 2100, 96% of the global population may not have sufficient access to a naturally occurring essential brain-building omega-3 fatty acid, according to a study in the journal Ambio.

Global warming may reduce the availability of Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), the most abundant fatty acid found in mammalian brains, which has a crucial role in processes such as neuroprotection, cell survival, and inflammation. Despite its requirement for neural development and health, humans are unable to produce enough of their own DHA. They rely on obtaining the nutrient through a diet of fish and seafood, and/or by taking supplements.

In the aquatic food chain, DHA is produced primarily by algae and the biochemical reactions involved in the process are sensitive to slight changes in temperature. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an omega-3 fatty acid that is a primary structural component of the human brain, cerebral cortex, skin, and retina.

Dr. Colombo, Mr. Rodgers and colleagues said: "According to our model, global warming could result in a 10 to 58% loss of globally-available DHA in the next 80 years. A decrease in levels will have the greatest effect on vulnerable populations and periods of human development, such as foetuses and infants, and may also affect predatory mammals, especially those in Polar Regions."

Open Access: Stefanie M. Colombo et al, Projected declines in global DHA availability for human consumption as a result of global warming, Ambio (2019)



DHA deficiency is associated with changes in brain function, including learning disabilities, alterations in gene expression, and impaired vision. During pregnancy and early life, DHA is vital for the formation of structures in the brain and eyes.

[Tom_Mazanec]

How did non fishing people get this fatty acid in olden times?

[nanning]

Good question Tom. I think the answer may be in the article/paper.

To add to vox_mundi, I'l like to point out that there may be another essential resource that is diminishing: Thiamine
From wikipedia:

It is an essential micronutrient, which cannot be made in the body.

---

Wild birds of declining European species are dying from a thiamine deficiency syndrome

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2715476/

Abstract

Wild birds of several species are dying in large numbers from an idiopathic paralytic disease in the Baltic Sea area. Here, we demonstrate strong relationships between this disease, breeding failure, and thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency in eggs, pulli, and full-grown individuals. Thiamine is essential for vertebrates, and its diphosphorylated form functions as a cofactor for several life sustaining enzymes, whereas the triphosphorylated form is necessary for the functioning of neuronal membranes. Paralyzed individuals were remedied by thiamine treatment. Moreover, thiamine deficiency and detrimental effects on thiamine-dependent enzymes were demonstrated in the yolk, liver, and brain. We propose that the mortality and breeding failure are part of a thiamine deficiency syndrome, which may have contributed significantly to declines in many bird populations during the last decades.

[Shared Humanity]

How did non fishing people get this fatty acid in olden times?

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275466138_Is_DHA_synthesis_from_ALA_sufficient_to_supply_the_adult_brain

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is important for brain function, and can be obtained directly from the diet or synthesized in the body from α-linolenic acid (ALA). Several studies have estimated DHA synthesis from ALA in humans using oral administration of stable isotope ALA and concluded that it is an inefficient process with typical estimates of conversion being less than 1% of the administered dose. However, the primary fate of orally administered ALA, that is not β-oxidized, is long-term adipose storage, which would not be available for conversion over the duration of most studies. This suggests that previous measures of DHA synthesis in humans may be underestimates. Recently, the DHA requirement of the brain has been estimated to be between 2.1 and 3.8 mg daily; suggesting that even a low DHA synthesis rate may be sufficient to maintain brain DHA levels. Moreover, using a novel steady-state labeled-ALA infusion technique that is unaffected by adipose storage of tracer, the DHA synthesis rate in rats was determined to be at least 3-fold greater than the brain DHA uptake rate. This review presents evidence that ALA-derived DHA may be sufficient to maintain brain DHA homeostasis and evaluates techniques used to measure DHA synthesis.

[Tom_Mazanec]

Bristol Bay Salmon Are in Hot Water
https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/bristol-bay-salmon-are-in-hot-water/

Twenty-five kilometers northwest, in the nearby Igushik River, the water was even warmer. One hundred thousand sockeye salmon waited for cooler conditions so they could move upstream to spawn. But, unwilling to pass through the hot, shallow water, the fish used up the available oxygen and suffocated—it was the largest sockeye salmon die-off seen in Bristol Bay, says Timothy Sands, a biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Elsewhere in the watershed, temperatures also soared.

On July 4, Anchorage hit 32.2 °C for the first time in recorded history. Six days later, the Cook Inletkeeper, a nonprofit organization based in nearby Homer, announced that salmon stream temperatures were “off the charts,” with water in the Deshka River, northwest of Anchorage, reaching 27.6 °C. In Norton Sound, there was a reported mass die-off of pink salmon. Up the Koyukuk River, a tributary of the Yukon River, there was another heat-related die-off, this time of chum salmon that had yet to spawn.

“I have never seen a summer as extreme as this year,” says Sands, who has worked in the Bristol Bay area since 2002. By summer’s end, Sands and his colleagues saw dead fish in every river in Bristol Bay.

[vox_mundi]

Researchers Find Waterhemp has Evolved Resistance to Four Herbicide Sites of Action
https://phys.org/news/2019-09-waterhemp-evolved-resistance-herbicide-sites.html

A research study featured in the journal Weed Science provides worrisome new details about the evolution of herbicide resistance in waterhemp—an annual weed that represents a significant threat to Midwest corn and soybean crops.

When a waterhemp biotype in eastern Nebraska survived a post-emergent application of the PPO inhibitor fomesafen, a team of university scientists decided to take a close look. They discovered the population was resistant to four distinct herbicide sites of action, including PPO inhibitors, ALS inhibitors, EPSPS inhibitors and PS II inhibitors.

Among their findings:

- All samples of the resistant waterhemp biotype tested positive for a G210 mutation in the PPX2L gene.
- The population exhibited a four- to six-fold resistance to PPO-inhibiting herbicides, a three-fold resistance to EPSPS inhibitors (glyphosate) and a seven-fold resistance to atrazine (a PS II inhibitor).
- When the ALS inhibitors chlorimuron and imazethapyr were applied at 32 times the label application rate, they achieved a less than 80 percent reduction in the aboveground biomass of the resistant waterhemp biotype

... "Our study showed there simply are no effective post-emergent herbicide choices for the control of resistant waterhemp in either glyphosate-resistant or conventional crops," ... "Growers will need to diversify their approaches to weed management and complement the use of chemicals with cultural and mechanical controls."

Open Access: Debalin Sarangi et al, Protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO) inhibitor–resistant waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus) from Nebraska is multiple herbicide resistant: confirmation, mechanism of resistance, and management, Weed Science (2019)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/wsc.2019.29

[nanning]

  $1m a minute: the farming subsidies destroying the world

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/16/1m-a-minute-the-farming-subsidies-destroying-the-world
 by Damian Carrington

 Quotes:
Just 1% of the $700bn (£560bn) a year given to farmers is used to benefit the environment, the analysis found. Much of the total instead promotes high-emission cattle production, forest destruction and pollution from the overuse of fertiliser.

The report rejects the idea that subsidies are needed to supply cheap food. It found that the cost of the damage currently caused by agriculture is greater than the value of the food produced. New assessments in the report found producing healthy, sustainable food would actually cut food prices, as the condition of the land improves.


A series of major recent reports have concluded the world’s food system is broken. It is driving the planet towards climate catastrophe while leaving billions of people either underfed or overweight

The “remarkable” return of forests in Costa Rica, the report says, followed the eliminating of cattle subsidies and payments for improving nature. “But there is a long way to go,” the report concludes. “Perverse subsidies need to be rapidly redirected or phased out.”

[Sigmetnow]

U.S. east coast

Sunscreen Chemicals Found in Chesapeake Bay Oysters

A new study finds Bay bivalves are apparently ingesting sunscreen ingredients from the water and sediment around them.

A team led by researchers from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County found ultraviolet-ray filtering chemicals used in commercial sunscreens, along with antibiotics and endocrine-disrupting hormones, in Bay water, bottom sediments and oyster tissue taken from the mouth of the Chester River and three water bodies on the Lower Eastern Shore. ...

https://chesapeakebaymagazine.com/sunscreen-chemicals-found-in-bay-oysters/

[Tom_Mazanec]

How Does Climate Change Affect Agriculture In Our Region?
https://wamu.org/story/19/09/16/how-does-climate-change-affect-agriculture-in-our-region/

The impacts of climate change are everywhere – even in the foods we eat.

Longer heat waves and record amounts of rainfall give way to invasive species and can damage crops. Extreme weather events are happening more often, forcing farmers to adapt their practices. And new research shows that climate is even changing the very soil use to grow crops in this area.

So what does all of this mean for farmers in the region and the rest of us who depend on their hard work?

Kojo will sit down with farmers and climate professionals to find out.

How long before these salmon are gone? 'Maybe 20 years'
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/16/science/chinook-salmon-columbia.html

Warming waters and a series of dams are making the grueling migration of the Chinook salmon even more deadly — and threatening dozens of other species.

[morganism]

Peer Reviewed Research on Climate Change by USDA Authors
January 2017-August 2019

https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000016d-4aa1-de7e-ab6d-efb938460000

Research Tags:
Forestry: Forests, trees, wildfires
Weather: Temperature change,
temperature variability,
drought, storms, and wildfires
Soil: Soil health,
soil carbon content,
and nutrients
Water: Bodies of water,
health of water bodies
Crops:
Commodities
grown for human consumption or animal feed
Livestock: Animals raised by humans
Wildlife: Wild, non-domesticated animals
Emissions: Greenhouse gas emissions,
criteria pollution emissions
Energy: Electricity,
renewable energy,
heating,
biofuels
Grassland: Meadows, savannahs, prairies, tundras
Economics: Money, commodity prices,
farm economics
Research: Tools, modeling, designs, other items related to research

[vox_mundi]

Climate Change Takes Toll On Oceans, Ice: UN Report
https://phys.org/news/2019-09-climate-toll-oceans-ice_1_2.html

Loading the atmosphere with CO2 and greenhouse gases has spawned a host of consequences, starting with irreversible sea-level rise, according to a draft Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report obtained by AFP.

Here are impacts highlighted in a summary slated for release on September 25:

...EL NINOS: Extreme El Ninos—weather phenomena which drive forest fires, cause disease outbreaks and affect cyclones—are expected to double in frequency if emissions are not cut.

SUSTENANCE: Food supply from shallow tropical waters could decline by 40 percent by the year 2100 because of warming and acidification.

SEA LEVEL: Compared to the 1980-2000 period, seas will rise nearly half a metre by 2100 if Earth warms 2C above preindustrial levels, and 84 cm in a 3C-4C world. In the 22nd century, the pace of sea-level rise is likely to jump 100-fold from 3.6 millimetres per year today to several centimetres annually.

Even if global warming is capped at 2C, oceans will eventually rise several metres, submerging areas that are today home to 280 million people.

FLOOD DAMAGE: Without major adaptation efforts, the cost of annual flood damage caused by storm surges would increase 100- to 1,000-fold by 2100.

NEW NORMAL: Many low-lying megacities and small island states will experience what are today rare sea-level extremes every year by 2050, no matter how fast CO2 emissions are drawn down.

WETLANDS: Globally, 20 to 90 percent of coastal wetlands will disappear by 2100, depending on sea-level rises.

OXYGEN: The concentration of life-giving oxygen in marine environments has dropped two percent in 60 years, and will decline another three to four percent by 2100 at current rates of carbon pollution. Oxygen levels will likely decline over 59-80 percent of the ocean surface within 20 years.

CORALS: Coral reefs—a major bulwark against storm surges—will decline by 90 percent even in a 1.5 C world. Two degrees would be a death sentence for corals, which underpin the livelihoods of half a billion people today.

GLACIERS: Average annual runoff from glaciers in most mountain regions will have peaked and begun to decline by 2100. Worldwide, more than two billion people today depend on glaciers for fresh water.

PERMAFROST: Thirty to 99 percent of the world's top-layer permafrost—the top three metres—could melt by 2100 if carbon pollution continues unabated, releasing a carbon bomb of greenhouse gases. If emissions are aggressively capped, the area thawed could be vastly reduced.

and many others ...

https://www.ipcc.ch/report/srocc/

[Tom_Mazanec]

As Water Sources Dry Up, Arizona Farmers Feel the Heat of Climate Change
https://civileats.com/2019/09/18/as-water-sources-dry-up-arizona-farmers-feel-the-heat-of-climate-change/

The DCP “not only impacts the crops that we grow, it impacts the number of acres,” said Steve Todd, an advisor to Knorr Farms. “There will be acres left fallow,” in the years ahead.

That may be an understatement. Water experts estimate that up to 40 percent of non-Native land in Pinal County will eventually be fallowed as Arizona embraces the drier future that climate change will bring. And that future is coming soon: As of 2022, farmers in Pinal County—ranked in the top 2 percent of all U.S. counties for agricultural sales with $908 million in annual, on-farm direct sales—will lose their guaranteed access to CAP water, and will have to turn to more limited groundwater supplies.

[Tom_Mazanec]

To Prevent the Next Dust Bowl, Give Soil a Chance
https://civileats.com/2019/09/23/to-prevent-the-next-dust-bowl-give-soil-a-chance/

During the past century, through an input-dependent, industrial business model, we too have mined the life and resilience out of our soil. It has taken us longer to do so, but as climate change provides the catalyst for more frequent weather extremes, we’re increasingly seeing the impact of the degradation of our soil resources on our farms and in our lives.

Overall, our soils are less able to store water or absorb heavy rainfall and, as a result, they’re more susceptible to periods of drought or flooding. (This one-minute video from the USDA explains why.) Our soils are also increasingly dependent on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides just to sustain current levels of productivity. During heavy rains, many of those chemicals are carried into our rivers, lakes, and oceans, where they wreak havoc on our fisheries and estuaries.

[vox_mundi]

Climate Change Could Cause Drought in Wheat-Growing Areas: Study
https://phys.org/news/2019-09-climate-drought-wheat-growing-areas.html

In a new study, researchers found that unless steps are taken to mitigate climate change, up to 60 percent of current wheat-growing areas worldwide could see simultaneous, severe and prolonged droughts by the end of the century.

The risk of widespread drought in wheat production areas is four times the level scientists see today. ... Such droughts would be a shock to the food production system.

Given present-day weather patterns, severe drought could affect up to 15 percent of current wheat-growing areas, the study states. Researchers found that even if global warming is held to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the target of the Paris Agreement, up to 30 percent of global wheat production areas could see simultaneous drought.


Estimated proportion of global wheat-growing area affected by Severe Water Stress (SWS) between 1861 and 2100.

Open Access: M. Trnka el al., "Mitigation efforts will not fully alleviate the increase in water scarcity occurrence probability in wheat-producing areas," Science Advances (2019)

Wheat is the world's largest rain-fed crop in terms of harvested area and supplies about 20 percent of all calories consumed by humans.

[Tom_Mazanec]

With my posting of gloomy "Consequence" links, here is an optimistic one on food:
Ten Times Cheaper But Better Food is Going to Radically Change Your World
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2019/09/ten-times-cheaper-but-better-food-is-going-to-radically-change-your-world.html

* This is taking processes from a $660+ billion beer industry and applying it to agriculture
* This transforms land, food, environment, our health and the economy
* Historical examples of less precise biology were already hugely impactful. Insulin was created with similar processes and the vitamin industry uses less precise version of these processes.
* First food products already have multi-billion companies
* We are domesticating micro and macro-organisms.

This is by a cornucopian blogger, but sometimes they are right, at least to an extent.