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El Cid

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1100 on: March 19, 2018, 05:29:22 PM »


You see this so often, especially now more than ever. All you gotta do is *lists a bunch of obvious solutions*, and you'll be fine. Here, here's a magic wand. Climate change is no problemo, because i figured it all out. Start building all this infrastructure, poor people, you'll make it one day!

Actually it is sort of true. Rich nations will be able to build dams, reverse osmosis plants, etc, and keep a high quality of life, for some northern ones it will be very good for their agriculture. Poor nations won't be able to walk the same path.

The big question is: what will those billions of poor guys do (especially in Africa where the population is booming) when they are done fighting their civil wars? I guess they will turn their eyes towards the rich and lazy Europe...and invade. 

Shared Humanity

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1101 on: March 19, 2018, 09:25:10 PM »
There is no need for alarm. All is well. Rsume your consuming lifestyle.

https://thebreakthrough.org/index.php/journal/no.-8-winter-2018/enlightenment-environmentalism?

http://progressandperil.com/2018/02/23/the-conquest-of-climate/

sidd

In the 2nd article about deadly heat preventing people from being able to go outside, the author is suggesting air conditioning built into hats. I am not making this up!

How's this for a conclusion?

"Pre-modern Europe endured many climate crises—famines caused by inclement weather lasting a season or a century—that subsided with modern development; our contemporary warming issues are also symptoms of lingering underdevelopment. The faster we develop, the faster we resolve the climate crisis by decoupling our well-being from the weather."

Please read and reread that last sentence.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2018, 09:40:43 PM by Shared Humanity »

SteveMDFP

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1102 on: March 19, 2018, 09:30:39 PM »
In the 2nd article about deadly heat preventing people from being able to go outside, the author is suggesting air conditioning built into hats. I am not making this up!

High-efficiency hair conditioning?

gerontocrat

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1103 on: March 19, 2018, 10:01:13 PM »

In the 2nd article about deadly heat preventing people from being able to go outside, the author is suggesting air conditioning built into hats. I am not making this up!

How's this for a conclusion?

"Pre-modern Europe endured many climate crises—famines caused by inclement weather lasting a season or a century—that subsided with modern development; our contemporary warming issues are also symptoms of lingering underdevelopment. The faster we develop, the faster we resolve the climate crisis by decoupling our well-being from the weather."

Please read and reread that last sentence.

Most of us in the West have done it already. A typical city-dweller most of the time only encounters the weather if the vehicle is parked outside, or at a holiday resort where the weather is arranged for our amusement. On the odd occasion inclement weather upsets the way we run our lives, the immediate reaction is resentment - How dare the weather!!

Weather disrupting food production? Import some.

The progressive disconnection of us from our physical environment will continue until the edifice finally collapses.

Have a good day
"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
"And that's all I'm going to say about that". Forrest Gump
"Damn, I wanted to see what happened next" (Epitaph)

oren

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1104 on: March 20, 2018, 01:59:04 AM »
Thanks for quoting pieces of these articles. I tried, but I just can't bring myself to read crap like that.

TerryM

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1105 on: March 20, 2018, 02:57:34 PM »
In the 2nd article about deadly heat preventing people from being able to go outside, the author is suggesting air conditioning built into hats. I am not making this up!

High-efficiency hair conditioning?


Raman!
Terry

AbruptSLR

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1106 on: March 20, 2018, 03:28:48 PM »
The linked report only evaluates climate change risk to the most vulnerable 55% of the world's population and finds that up to 143 million people could become climate refuges by 2050.

Title: "Expect tens of millions of internal climate migrants by 2050, says World Bank"

https://www.carbonbrief.org/expect-tens-of-millions-of-internal-climate-migrants-by-2050-says-world-bank

Extract: "As many as 143 million people in three of the world’s most vulnerable regions could be forced by 2050 to migrate within their own country due to climate change, a new report says.

The new World Bank report looks at how slow-onset climate impacts, such as water stress, crop failure and sea level rise, could affect future population distribution.

It covers three areas expected to be significantly affected by internal climate migration: Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America. Together, these regions represent 55% of the developing world’s population."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

TerryM

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1107 on: March 20, 2018, 08:03:09 PM »
ASLR
I assume the 143m figure would be in addition to those who migrate across national borders. Do we have estimates for these additional climate refugees?
If populations from Miami, Boston and New York were moving to higher ground it would make it that much more difficult to integrate refugees from Vietnam, Haiti, and other countries that may be facing economic or climatic hardship.


Adding additional displaced people fleeing armed conflict won't ease anyone's burden.
Terry


gerontocrat

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1109 on: March 21, 2018, 02:28:22 PM »
This is supposed to be a "foresight report". How to make more cash out of the oceans. Depressing.

Ocean plastic could treble in decade
By Roger Harrabin
BBC environment analyst


Quote
Plastics is just one issue facing the world's seas, along with rising sea levels, warming oceans, and pollution, it says.

But the Foresight Future of the Sea Report for the UK government said there are also opportunities to cash in on the "ocean economy".

They say this is predicted to double to $3 trillion (£2 trillion) by 2030.

The report says much more knowledge is needed about the ocean. The authors say the world needs a Mission to "Planet Ocean" to mirror the excitement of voyaging to the moon and Mars.

The Foresight reports are written by experts to brief ministers on medium and long-term issues of significance. This one has been signed off by ministers from four different departments as the authors emphasise the need for a joined-up oceans policy.

One of the authors, Prof Edward Hill from the UK National Oceanography Centre told BBC News: "The ocean is critical to our economic future. Nine billion people will be looking to the ocean for more food. Yet we know so little of what's down there.

"We invest a lot of money and enthusiasm for missions to space - but there's nothing living out there. The sea bed is teeming with life. We really need a mission to planet ocean - it's the last frontier."
"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
"And that's all I'm going to say about that". Forrest Gump
"Damn, I wanted to see what happened next" (Epitaph)

Archimid

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1110 on: March 23, 2018, 01:46:05 PM »
Wheat in heat: the 'crazy idea' that could combat food insecurity

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/mar/23/heat-tolerant-durum-wheat-crazy-idea-food-insecurity

Quote
Following four years of trials, which saw thousands of wheat varieties tested in the unforgiving sub-Saharan heat, scientists have successfully turned what was first thought of as a “crazy idea” into a vital new food crop. With more than 1 million smallholders living along the Senegal River basin, which also runs through Mali and Mauritania, it was an important strategic area to trial the wheat.

The strain of wheat can withstand constant 40C temperatures, and has been developed by the International Centre for Research in the Dry Areas (Icarda). The so-called drylands cover more than 40% of the world’s land surface and despite the challenges, remain huge centres of agriculture, supporting half the world’s livestock.
I am an energy reservoir seemingly intent on lowering entropy for self preservation.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1111 on: March 26, 2018, 10:10:58 PM »
Bringing back public water fountains — to help reduce the number of single-use plastic bottles.

First of London’s new drinking fountain locations revealed
Mayor Sadiq Khan confirms that four of 20 outdoor fountains will be in the West End, Liverpool Street station and Southwark
https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/25/london-water-drinking-fountain-locations-revealed
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1112 on: March 31, 2018, 03:44:32 PM »
Family farms.

the end of the road
Quote
In a typical year, dairy farmers get only 11 cents from every dollar spent on milk.

From that 11 cents they have to pay for their mortgage, feed, fuel, labor, insurance, equipment, and any debts they have on those items. What’s left to actually feed the farmer’s family?

Stop by the average small farm in America during business hours and no one’s home. More often than not, the post-retirement-age-farmer, whose kids have all grown and left the farm for greener pastures in the city, is gone at work. Working to pay for his habit.

His habit? Farming. ...
https://twosparrowsfarm.com/the-end-of-the-road/
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Hefaistos

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1113 on: April 03, 2018, 08:24:02 AM »
Worsening land degradation caused by human activities is undermining the well-being of two fifths of humanity, driving species extinctions and intensifying climate change. It is also a major contributor to mass human migration and increased conflict, according to the world’s first comprehensive evidence-based assessment of land degradation and restoration.

The dangers of land degradation, which cost the equivalent of about 10% of the world’s annual gross product in 2010 through the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, are detailed for policymakers, together with a catalogue of corrective options, in the three-year assessment report by more than 100 leading experts from 45 countries, launched today.

Produced by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the report was approved at the 6th session of the IPBES Plenary in Medellín, Colombia. IPBES has 129 State Members.

“With negative impacts on the well-being of at least 3.2 billion people, the degradation of the Earth’s land surface through human activities is pushing the planet towards a sixth mass species extinction,”

The IPBES report finds that land degradation is a major contributor to climate change, with deforestation alone contributing about 10% of all human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. Another major driver of the changing climate has been the release of carbon previously stored in the soil, with land degradation between 2000 and 2009 responsible for annual global emissions of up to 4.4 billion tonnes of CO2.

“By 2050, the combination of land degradation and climate change is predicted to reduce global crop yields by an average of 10%, and by up to 50% in some regions. In the future, most degradation will occur in Central and South America, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia – the areas with the most land still remaining that is suitable for agriculture.”

Climate Change Links

    Land degradation is a major contributor to climate change, and climate change is foreseen as a leading driver of biodiversity loss (along with crop agriculture and infrastructure development) through 2050. 

    The contribution of land degradation to climate change includes the release of carbon sequestered in soil. Between 2000 and 2009, land degradation was responsible for annual global emissions of 3.6–4.4 billion tonnes of CO2.

    Over the past 200 years, soil organic carbon, an indicator of soil health, has dropped an estimated 8% globally (176 Gt C - equivalent to the carbon that would be lost from clearing an area of tropical forest approximately the size of Australia).

    Without urgent action, further losses of 36 gigatons of carbon from soils - especially from Sub-Saharan Africa – is projected by 2050 (equivalent to nearly 20 years of emissions from the global transportation sector - all freight and passenger traffic by land, air, water and sea). The main processes include deforestation and forest degradation, the drying and burning of peatlands, and the decline of carbon content in many cultivated soils and rangelands because of excessive disturbance and insufficient return of organic matter to the soil.

    Deforestation alone contributes approximately 10% of all human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, and can further alter the climate through changes in surface reflectivity and the generation of dust particles.

    In mountainous and high latitude regions, permafrost melt and glacier retreat will result in mass land movements such as landslides and surface subsidence (cave-ins, sinking) and higher greenhouse gas emissions. In forests, the likelihood of wildfires, pest and disease outbreaks increases in scenarios where droughts and hot spells are projected to be more frequent.

    The impacts of climate change on land degradation include accelerated soil erosion on degrade lands as a result of more extreme weather events, increased risk of forest fires, and changes in the distribution of invasive species, pests and pathogens.

    Strong 2-way interaction between climate change and land degradation mean the issues are best addressed in a coordinated way.

    Some activities aimed at climate change mitigation can increase the risk of land degradation and biodiversity loss - e.g. expansion of bioenergy crops. Planting trees where they did not historically occur (afforestation), can have an impact similar to deforestation, including the reduction of biodiversity and disruption of water, energy and nutrient cycles.

    Avoiding, reducing and reversing land degradation could provide more than a third of the most cost-effective greenhouse gas mitigation activities needed by 2030 to keep global warming under 2°C, increase food and water security, and contribute to the avoidance of conflict and migration.

https://www.ipbes.net/news/media-release-worsening-worldwide-land-degradation-now-%E2%80%98critical%E2%80%99-undermining-well-being-32

JimD

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1114 on: April 06, 2018, 05:09:21 PM »
In this thread, and many others here, a few years ago I worked through how long I thought the global food system could hang together before the curves of production and consumption crossed going in the wrong direction and there would be large impacts relating to collapse.  The answer I came up with was right in line with the Limits to Growth curves worked out since the 1970's. In other words close to mid-century.

Here is an interesting article from a real expert (me being sort of an amateur with a fair amount of experience).  He seems to be saying early 2030's. Now this is not clear as he may mean we hit the steep drop off in the curves of food available per capita around then and, if so, then we track right to my number.  IF he means the crap really hits the fan in about 12-15 years we are really (family blog)ed.

Quote
....In a major speech to environmental groups and politicians, Professor John Beddington, who took up the position of chief scientific adviser last year, will say that the world is heading for major upheavals which are due to come to a head in 2030...

...Food prices for major crops such as wheat and maize have recently settled after a sharp rise last year when production failed to keep up with demand. But according to Beddington, global food reserves are so low – at 14% of annual consumption – a major drought or flood could see prices rapidly escalate again. The majority of the food reserve is grain that is in transit between shipping ports, he said.

"Our food reserves are at a 50-year low, but by 2030 we need to be producing 50% more food. At the same time, we will need 50% more energy, and 30% more fresh water.

"There are dramatic problems out there, particularly with water and food, but energy also, and they are all intimately connected," Beddington said. "You can't think about dealing with one without considering the others. We must deal with all of these together."...

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/mar/18/perfect-storm-john-beddington-energy-food-climate

Note: This may have been covered here already but I don't have time to read everything to determine that.  So apologies if this is a repeat.  I have been off on another one of my sabbaticals in the mountains for 5 weeks or so and am writing another book.  I pop in here when I'm stuck with writing or see something worth commenting upon.
We do not err because truth is difficult to see. It is visible at a glance. We err because this is more comfortable. Alexander Solzhenitsyn

How is it conceivable that all our technological progress - our very civilization - is like the axe in the hand of the pathological criminal? Albert Einstein

Daniel B.

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1115 on: April 06, 2018, 06:24:48 PM »
That report is almost ten years old.  Since then, agricultural production has increased and world hunger has decreased.  FAO now lists global conflict has the major contributor to food insecurity. 

http://www.fao.org/state-of-food-security-nutrition/en/

Sebastian Jones

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1116 on: April 06, 2018, 09:38:48 PM »
That report is almost ten years old.  Since then, agricultural production has increased and world hunger has decreased.  FAO now lists global conflict has the major contributor to food insecurity. 

http://www.fao.org/state-of-food-security-nutrition/en/
Nothing in your post contradicts the previous post- what you say is true, but, what of it?

Daniel B.

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1117 on: April 06, 2018, 11:04:51 PM »
That report is almost ten years old.  Since then, agricultural production has increased and world hunger has decreased.  FAO now lists global conflict has the major contributor to food insecurity. 

http://www.fao.org/state-of-food-security-nutrition/en/
Nothing in your post contradicts the previous post- what you say is true, but, what of it?

As FAO states, food reserves are not at 50 year lows.  Production has increased such that enough food is produced globally to eliminate world hunger.  The issues are distribution, spoilage, and poverty.  The FAO is aiming to eliminate world hunger by 2030.  Somewhat the opposite of what Beddington claims will occur.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1118 on: April 07, 2018, 01:13:07 AM »
Idea: locate “vertical farms” next to thermal power plants, making use of thermal energy’s warmed waste water (and improve the use of those often ‘brownfield’ locations).

Is the future of farming vertical?
Quote
Thermal power plants have qualities that make them inherently amenable to vertical farming. They consume about 45 to 50 percent of all the water used to cool plants during power generation. Disposing of the hot water is both a nuisance and a cost. Heat, water, energy and captured slipstream emissions are all byproducts of energy generation and could be available for producing food.

By creating vertical, urban food production, we can give consumers what they want: local food that’s produced transparently and sustainably.
Reusing this heat, water and energy can create new income streams for power plants and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Thermal power plants are often near hubs of the U.S. Postal Service. Could the post office begin to distribute fresh produce locally?

There are social advantages, too. In most urban areas, thermal power plants are surrounded by low-value brownfields that have little or no productive use. Many have had to be been taken over by cities for back taxes, and they are usually in "food deserts" — poor neighborhoods with little to no access to grocery stores with fresh produce. These areas could benefit from vertical farms and fresh produce. ...
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/future-farming-vertical
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Daniel B.

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1119 on: April 07, 2018, 02:11:15 PM »
Sounds like a fabulous idea.  I think we just need get past the perception of radioactive water.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1120 on: April 07, 2018, 08:21:16 PM »
Grocery bags and takeout containers aren't enough. It's time to phase out all single-use plastic
Quote
Faced with an unholy tonnage of chip bags, soda bottles, takeout containers and other disposable plastic items flowing into our landfills and our waters, winding up in wildlife, drinking water and food, policymakers in California have tried reining in plastic waste bit by bit. For example, more than 100 cities have adopted restrictions on polystyrene takeout containers, and the state has banned single-use plastic grocery bags.

Considering the magnitude of the problem, however, this item-by-item, city-by-city approach isn't going to cut it. ...
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-plastic-plan-20180220-story.html
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Daniel B.

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1121 on: April 07, 2018, 08:34:12 PM »
My biggest pet peeve is bottled water.  These litter the grounds of any major event.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1122 on: April 07, 2018, 10:34:10 PM »
Why not help the environment by switching Kitty and Pooch to a nutritious, but non-meat, diet?

If American pets were to establish a sovereign nation, it would rank fifth in global meat consumption.

Fake Meat Might Feed Your Dog and Save the Planet
https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2018-04-05/how-fake-meat-might-feed-your-dog-and-save-the-planet
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TerryM

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1123 on: April 07, 2018, 10:50:05 PM »
Why not help the environment by switching Kitty and Pooch to a nutritious, but non-meat, diet?

If American pets were to establish a sovereign nation, it would rank fifth in global meat consumption.

Fake Meat Might Feed Your Dog and Save the Planet
https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2018-04-05/how-fake-meat-might-feed-your-dog-and-save-the-planet
Auaak
Franken poo in the litter box!
Terry


Sigmetnow

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1124 on: April 08, 2018, 04:27:51 PM »
Why not help the environment by switching Kitty and Pooch to a nutritious, but non-meat, diet?

If American pets were to establish a sovereign nation, it would rank fifth in global meat consumption.

Fake Meat Might Feed Your Dog and Save the Planet
https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2018-04-05/how-fake-meat-might-feed-your-dog-and-save-the-planet
Auaak
Franken poo in the litter box!
Terry

Odds are, it would smell better! ;D  And, smell less. :)
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solartim27

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FNORD

sidd

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1126 on: April 14, 2018, 07:32:46 PM »
Re: climate shift of 100W irrigation boundary

I did notice last year than there was more irrigation in western Iowa than i had seen in previous years and decades.

sidd

Sigmetnow

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1127 on: April 15, 2018, 02:47:53 PM »
Just a note for folks who shy away from the Science board ;) , there is a thread on the AMOC Slowdown there whch has become active recently: https://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,1755.0.html


Avoid Gulf stream disruption at all costs, scientists warn
How close the world is to a catastrophic collapse of giant ocean currents is unknown, making halting global warming more critical than ever, scientists say
Quote
Serious disruption to the Gulf Stream ocean currents that are crucial in controlling global climate must be avoided “at all costs”, senior scientists have warned. The alert follows the revelation this week that the system is at its weakest ever recorded.

Past collapses of the giant network have seen some of the most extreme impacts in climate history, with western Europe particularly vulnerable to a descent into freezing winters. A significantly weakened system is also likely to cause more severe storms in Europe, faster sea level rise on the east coast of the US and increasing drought in the Sahel in Africa.


The new research worries scientists because of the huge impact global warming has already had on the currents and the unpredictability of a future “tipping point”.

The currents that bring warm Atlantic water northwards towards the pole, where they cool, sink and return southwards, is the most significant control on northern hemisphere climate outside the atmosphere. But the system, formally called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (Amoc), has weakened by 15% since 1950, thanks to melting Greenland ice and ocean warming making sea water less dense and more buoyant.

This represents a massive slowdown – equivalent to halting all the world’s rivers three times over, or stopping the greatest river, the Amazon, 15 times. Such weakening has not been seen in at least the last 1,600 years, which is as far back as researchers have analysed so far. Furthermore, the new analyses show the weakening is accelerating. ...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/13/avoid-at-all-costs-gulf-streams-record-weakening-prompts-warnings-global-warming
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1128 on: April 24, 2018, 08:43:46 PM »
No-Show Spring Puts Farm Spending on Ice in Canada’s Prairies
Quote
The seemingly endless winter that swept through Canada’s Prairies prompted farmers to put their seed and fertilizer purchases on ice.

Wholesale sales of agricultural supplies including feeds, seeds, fertilizers and herbicides fell 17 percent in February, the largest monthly decline since 2011, according to Statistics Canada data released Monday. Parts of Canada’s heartland were walloped by above-normal snowfall this winter, with swaths of Alberta and Saskatchewan receiving as much as 1.5 times average precipitation from November to March, according to data from the nation’s agriculture ministry. ...
https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2018-04-24/no-show-spring-puts-the-ice-on-farm-spending-in-canada-prairies
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dnem

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1129 on: April 25, 2018, 12:04:46 AM »
Locally, our biggest nursery and garden center is advertising like crazy.  I'd guess they're buried in plants as every weekend has been cool and gloomy here in Maryland and customers are staying home.

AbruptSLR

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1130 on: April 27, 2018, 09:46:30 PM »
Experts on future food supply indicate that: climate change, pollution, biodiversity degradation, soil degradation and increasing world population; means that limited food supplies could move from the current problem situation into a crisis situation well before the end of the century:

Title: "Analysis: Pessimism on the food front"

http://www.dailyclimate.org/what-are-the-threats-to-future-food-security-2563180710.html

Extract: "Virtually all trends, biophysical and socioeconomic, suggest that levels of hunger, already high, will only increase as the human population grows and its life-support systems are degraded. Steps that might ameliorate the situation are, unhappily, nowhere in sight.

Is it likely humanity will satisfactorily feed 11 billion people around the end of this century? A quick response would be "of course not—after 60 years of assurances that the food problem would be solved, we're not feeding 7.5 billion today."

Indeed, the number of undernourished people in the world has been rising since 2014, reaching an estimated 815 million in 2016, and several billion suffer levels of serious micronutrient malnourishment."
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JimD

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1131 on: April 29, 2018, 05:57:44 PM »
Experts on future food supply indicate that: climate change, pollution, biodiversity degradation, soil degradation and increasing world population; means that limited food supplies could move from the current problem situation into a crisis situation well before the end of the century:

Title: "Analysis: Pessimism on the food front"

http://www.dailyclimate.org/what-are-the-threats-to-future-food-security-2563180710.html

Extract: "Virtually all trends, biophysical and socioeconomic, suggest that levels of hunger, already high, will only increase as the human population grows and its life-support systems are degraded. Steps that might ameliorate the situation are, unhappily, nowhere in sight.

Is it likely humanity will satisfactorily feed 11 billion people around the end of this century? A quick response would be "of course not—after 60 years of assurances that the food problem would be solved, we're not feeding 7.5 billion today."

Indeed, the number of undernourished people in the world has been rising since 2014, reaching an estimated 815 million in 2016, and several billion suffer levels of serious micronutrient malnourishment."

Note my post #1114 on the 6th of the month about this.  The data has been pointing towards mid-century for many years now.  So much of what folks are doing is just going to be overtaken by events.
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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1132 on: May 16, 2018, 06:43:39 PM »
This was posted in the Wildlife section, but contains dire consequences for the ocean and food as well. From March, a UN report on biodiversity has dramatic negative consequences for food security in Asia: "...the risks posed by biodiversity loss should be considered on the same scale as those of climate change, noted the authors of the UN-backed report, which was released in Medellin, Colombia on Friday.

Among the standout findings are that exploitable fisheries in the world’s most populous region – the Asia-Pacific – are on course to decline to zero by 2048; that freshwater availability in the Americas has halved since the 1950s and that 42% of land species in Europe have declined in the past decade."

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/23/destruction-of-nature-as-dangerous-as-climate-change-scientists-warn?CMP=share_btn_tw

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1133 on: May 16, 2018, 11:35:17 PM »
Experts on future food supply indicate that: climate change, pollution, biodiversity degradation, soil degradation and increasing world population; means that limited food supplies could move from the current problem situation into a crisis situation well before the end of the century:

Title: "Analysis: Pessimism on the food front"

http://www.dailyclimate.org/what-are-the-threats-to-future-food-security-2563180710.html

Extract: "Virtually all trends, biophysical and socioeconomic, suggest that levels of hunger, already high, will only increase as the human population grows and its life-support systems are degraded. Steps that might ameliorate the situation are, unhappily, nowhere in sight.

Is it likely humanity will satisfactorily feed 11 billion people around the end of this century? A quick response would be "of course not—after 60 years of assurances that the food problem would be solved, we're not feeding 7.5 billion today."

Indeed, the number of undernourished people in the world has been rising since 2014, reaching an estimated 815 million in 2016, and several billion suffer levels of serious micronutrient malnourishment."

Note my post #1114 on the 6th of the month about this.  The data has been pointing towards mid-century for many years now.  So much of what folks are doing is just going to be overtaken by events.

I agree...well before the end of the century.

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1134 on: May 17, 2018, 12:43:11 AM »
Experts on future food supply indicate that: climate change, pollution, biodiversity degradation, soil degradation and increasing world population; means that limited food supplies could move from the current problem situation into a crisis situation well before the end of the century:

Title: "Analysis: Pessimism on the food front"

http://www.dailyclimate.org/what-are-the-threats-to-future-food-security-2563180710.html

Extract: "Virtually all trends, biophysical and socioeconomic, suggest that levels of hunger, already high, will only increase as the human population grows and its life-support systems are degraded. Steps that might ameliorate the situation are, unhappily, nowhere in sight.

Is it likely humanity will satisfactorily feed 11 billion people around the end of this century? A quick response would be "of course not—after 60 years of assurances that the food problem would be solved, we're not feeding 7.5 billion today."

Indeed, the number of undernourished people in the world has been rising since 2014, reaching an estimated 815 million in 2016, and several billion suffer levels of serious micronutrient malnourishment."

Note my post #1114 on the 6th of the month about this.  The data has been pointing towards mid-century for many years now.  So much of what folks are doing is just going to be overtaken by events.

I agree...well before the end of the century.

In parts of the world it is/was already happening: Sudan (Darfur), Somalia, Syria, Yemen...

But it could be reversed, with agriculture not contributing to climate catastrophe, but being part of the solution. Alas many climate scientists (e.g. Kevin Anderson) don't yet get it:  BECCS is not a technology of tomorrow, but of yesterday: Combine photosynthesis with pyrolysis. It has been demonstrated on a large scale pre Columbus in the Amazon, which to a large extent is a man made food forest. Back then it supported a larger population than today, in a non-destructive manner.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta

It "only" needs a large amount of small scale farmers, i.e. an agri-cultural revolution, replenishing soil carbon with suitable char coal and non-destructive practices ("organic" farming, no more deep plowing, no more wasting of precious bodily fluids, ...). Sequestration of a few GtC/y from biochar C plus organic C synergistics would be doable.

But we prefer being sophisticatedly stupid.


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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1135 on: May 19, 2018, 09:51:41 AM »
Some burger loving leaders might not like this.

Better diet quality relates to larger brain tissue volumes.
http://n.neurology.org/content/early/2018/05/16/WNL.0000000000005691

Abstract
Quote
Objective To investigate the relation of diet quality with structural brain tissue volumes and focal vascular lesions in a dementia-free population.

Methods From the population-based Rotterdam Study, 4,447 participants underwent dietary assessment and brain MRI scanning between 2005 and 2015. We excluded participants with an implausible energy intake, prevalent dementia, or cortical infarcts, leaving 4,213 participants for the current analysis. A diet quality score (0–14) was calculated reflecting adherence to Dutch dietary guidelines. Brain MRI was performed to obtain information on brain tissue volumes, white matter lesion volume, lacunes, and cerebral microbleeds. The associations of diet quality score and separate food groups with brain structures were assessed using multivariable linear and logistic regression.

Results We found that better diet quality related to larger brain volume, gray matter volume, white matter volume, and hippocampal volume. Diet quality was not associated with white matter lesion volume, lacunes, or microbleeds. High intake of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts, dairy, and fish and low intake of sugar-containing beverages were associated with larger brain volumes.

Conclusions A better diet quality is associated with larger brain tissue volumes. These results suggest that the effect of nutrition on neurodegeneration may act via brain structure. More research, in particular longitudinal research, is needed to unravel direct vs indirect effects between diet quality and brain health.

Could also be that those large brain participants was already eating better, because of their larger brains. Doesn't really matter.  :D
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TerryM

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1136 on: May 23, 2018, 08:51:00 AM »
China apparently is having success in reclaiming her deserts.



And they claim the techniques can work elsewhere.
Terry

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1137 on: May 23, 2018, 08:58:21 AM »
Some burger loving leaders might not like this.

Better diet quality relates to larger brain tissue volumes.
http://n.neurology.org/content/early/2018/05/16/WNL.0000000000005691

Without reading anything about this subject I'd purely based on common sense that those with a larger brain have - on average - a higher IQ/ are smarter, and make - on average - better decisions. So I wouldn't be surprised if they exchanged cause and effect


China apparently is having success in reclaiming her deserts.


And they claim the techniques can work elsewhere.
Terry

If it works and has no long-term side effects this would be good news for mankind.

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1138 on: May 23, 2018, 11:48:07 AM »
Some burger loving leaders might not like this.

Better diet quality relates to larger brain tissue volumes.
http://n.neurology.org/content/early/2018/05/16/WNL.0000000000005691

Without reading anything about this subject I'd purely based on common sense that those with a larger brain have - on average - a higher IQ/ are smarter, and make - on average - better decisions. So I wouldn't be surprised if they exchanged cause and effect
Yeah, news here still managed to claim that (translated) "the scientists were convinced that a better diet produced larger brains, further research was needed". So I had to check it and of course one of the authors said the exact opposite:
Quote
It does not prove that a better diet results in a larger brain volume; it only shows an association.
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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1139 on: May 23, 2018, 02:56:04 PM »
China apparently is having success in reclaiming her deserts.



And they claim the techniques can work elsewhere.
Terry

This is amazing. Too bad the U.S. is not interested in taking a leadership role in the research needed to develop profitable and sustainable solutions. We develop the technology for wind generation of electricity and the Chinese then leapfrog us with improvements and become the world leader in manufacturing and installations across the planet. We are ceding our technological leadership to the Chinese.

Well. Let's just keep spending billions to increase natural gas production through fracking.

Martin Gisser

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1140 on: May 23, 2018, 04:06:26 PM »
This is amazing.
But not new. The first huge such project started in 1995, the restoration of the Loess Plateau, a cradle of Chinese civilization, thus desertified like civilization does, and the source of the yellow in the Yellow River (loess sediment). It took them just a decade to make it green again:

Short snipped from John D Liu's famous documentary "Lessons of the Loess Plateau", with nice before-after shots:


Full docu:


10 min snippet posted by World Bank, who supported the project:

Home to more than 50 million people, the Loess Plateau in China's Northwest takes its name from the dry powdery wind-blown soil. Centuries of overuse and overgrazing led to one of the highest erosion rates in the world and widespread poverty.

Two projects set out to restore China's heavily degraded Loess Plateau through one of the world's largest erosion control programs with the goal of returning this poor part of China to an area of sustainable agricultural production.

More than 2.5 million people in four of China's poorest provinces -- Shanxi, Shaanxi and Gansu, as well as the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region -- were lifted out of poverty. Through the introduction of sustainable farming practices, farmers' incomes doubled, employment diversified and the degraded environment was revitalized.

SteveMDFP

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1141 on: May 24, 2018, 04:27:38 AM »
China apparently is having success in reclaiming her deserts.

And they claim the techniques can work elsewhere.
Terry

I was disappointed in the lack of specificity in the description of the technology used.  It described mixing sand with a substance found in plant cell walls.  So I did a bit of googling.  Turns out to be carboxymethyl cellulose.  So, modified cellulose.
https://www.ideaspies.com/a-paste-that-transforms-deserts-into-fertile-land/

So it would tend to hold onto water that would otherwise flow away.   This could be valuable for agriculture in many arid environments.

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1142 on: May 25, 2018, 03:01:35 AM »
But at levels too low to affect humans, so it’s all good, right?  ::)

Mussels off the coast of Seattle test positive for opioids
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mussels-test-positive-for-opioids-seattle-puget-sound/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1143 on: May 28, 2018, 04:12:29 PM »
EU moves to ban single-use plastics
Quote
The European Commission on Monday proposed banning single-use plastic products such as cotton buds and plastic straws and putting the burden of cleaning up waste on manufacturers in an effort to reduce marine litter.

Under the proposal, single-use plastic products with readily available alternatives will be banned and replaced with more environmentally sustainable materials.

The proposal also requires EU countries to collect 90 percent of single-use plastic drink bottles by 2025 and producers to help cover costs of waste management and clean-up.

"Plastic waste is undeniably a big issue and Europeans need to act together to tackle this problem, because plastic waste ends up in our air, our soil, our oceans, and in our food," said EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans. ...
http://www.businessinsider.com/r-eu-moves-to-ban-single-use-plastics-2018-5
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gerontocrat

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1144 on: May 28, 2018, 11:06:27 PM »
One of the so many 600lb gorillas in the room is basic foodstuffs (rice, wheat).
Availability is now much more dependent on international "just-in-time" supply chains with less held in stockpiles.

That's fine unless weather adversely affects production in several of the world's bread baskets at once. It has happened this year - not enough to panic but enough to keep one eye open.

https://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/story/5432893/dry-weather-woes-spark-global-wheat-price-rally/

Quote
Global wheat rallies on Australian and Russian crop woes

Benchmark United States wheat futures posted its second consecutive week of strong gains as investors begin to dial back yields in several key production areas around the world, including Australia.

US wheat futures have now rallied by 9 per cent in the past fortnight to the highest level in 10 months as ongoing dry weather in Australia, building dry conditions in southern Russian and the Canadian Prairies as well as extreme heat in the US HRW areas threaten yields.

Global markets are becoming more sensitive to weather in Russia which accounted for more than a fifth of the world wheat exports in the 2017/18 season. Analysts are starting to pare back projections for Russia’s upcoming harvest which will start in little more than a month.

Russia’s spring wheat plantings are lagging where cold, wet conditions had slowed seeding with some of the intended plantings already in doubt. Persistent dry weather is also threatening Russia’s winter wheat yields.

Russia’s Agriculture Ministry pulled back its forecast for the 2018 total grain crop by 5 million tonnes to a range of 105 to 110mt last week down from 134mt last year, citing the weather problems in the spring wheat areas.

Concerns over Australia’s 2018 wheat crop continue to intensify as the dry weather continues. It’s likely that less than a fifth of the country’s intended wheat plantings will have emerged at the start of winter. A much larger area has been planted but this is still waiting for rain to germinate.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology reported that Queensland and NSW have received between 30 and 60pc of average rainfall over the past year, leading to long-term deficits in both groundwater and surface water. It also said the drought-affected areas in Western Australia have received less than a third of its average rainfall. They noted that last week’s rain had little effect on deficiencies.
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gerontocrat

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1145 on: May 29, 2018, 11:04:56 AM »
Didn't know where to post this.... The more one thinks about any loss of effectiveness in the carbon sinks the worse it feels.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/28/invisible-scum-on-sea-cuts-co2-exchange-with-air-by-up-to-50

Quote
Invisible scum on sea cuts CO2 exchange with air 'by up to 50%'
Scientists say the findings have major implications for predicting our future climate

Mon 28 May 2018 16.39 BST Last modified on Tue 29 May 2018 00.30 BST

An invisible layer of scum on the sea surface can reduce carbon dioxide exchange between the atmosphere and the oceans by up to 50%, scientists have discovered.

Researchers from Heriot-Watt, Newcastle and Exeter universities say the findings, published in the journal Nature Geoscience on Monday, have major implications for predicting our future climate.

The world’s oceans absorb around a quarter of all man-made carbon dioxide emissions, making them the largest long-term sink of carbon on Earth.

Greater sea turbulence increases gas exchange between the atmosphere and oceans and until now it was difficult to calculate the effect of “biological surfactants”.

Dr Ryan Pereira, a Lyell research fellow at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, said: “As surface temperatures rise, so too do surfactants, which is why this is such a critical finding.

“The warmer the ocean surface gets, the more surfactants we can expect, and an even greater reduction in gas exchange.

“What we discovered at 13 sites across the Atlantic Ocean is that biological surfactants suppress the rate of gas exchange caused by the wind.”

Scientists say the surfactants are not necessarily visible like an oil slick or foam and are difficult to identify from satellites monitoring our ocean’s surface.

They say they need to be able to identify organic matter on the surface microlayer of the ocean so they can reliably estimate gas exchange rates such as carbon dioxide and methane.

Rob Upstill-Goddard, professor of marine biogeochemistry at Newcastle University, said: “These latest results build on our previous findings that, contrary to conventional wisdom, large sea surface enrichments of natural surfactants counter the effects of high winds.”

FROM THE ARTICLE IN NATURE GEOSCIENCE

Reduced air–sea CO2 exchange in the Atlantic Ocean due to biological surfactantsRyan Pereira1*, Ian Ashton2, Bita Sabbaghzadeh3, Jamie D. Shutler4 and Robert C. Upstill-Goddard3

Ocean CO2 uptake accounts for 20–40% of the post-industrial sink for anthropogenic CO2. The uptake rate is the product of the CO2 interfacial concentration gradient and its transfer velocity, which is controlled by spatial and temporal variability in near-surface turbulence. This variability complicates CO2 flux estimates and in large part reflects variable sea surface micro-layer enrichments in biologically derived surfactants that cause turbulence suppression. Here we present a direct estimate of this surfactant effect on CO2 exchange at the ocean basin scale, with derived relationships between its transfer velocity determined experimentally and total surfactant activity for Atlantic Ocean surface seawaters. We found up to 32% reduction in CO2 exchange relative to surfactant-free water. Applying a relationship between sea surface temperature and total surfactant activity to our results gives monthly estimates of spatially resolved ‘surfactant suppression’ of CO2 exchange. Large areas of reduced CO2 uptake resulted, notably around 20° N, and the magnitude of the Atlantic Ocean CO2 sink for 2014 was decreased by 9%. This direct quantification of the surfactant effect on CO2 uptake at the ocean basin scale offers a framework for further refining estimates of air–sea gas exchange up to the global scale.
« Last Edit: May 29, 2018, 11:19:20 AM by gerontocrat »
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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1146 on: May 29, 2018, 01:06:31 PM »
So I go to the next page and....

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/29/land-clearing-wipes-out-1bn-taxpayer-funded-emissions-gains

AUSTRALIA's Government continues to try and be even dumber than Scott Pruitt and may be succeeding.

Quote
Land-clearing wipes out $1bn taxpayer-funded emissions gains
Official data shows forest-clearing released 160m tonnes of carbon dioxide since 2015


More than $1bn of public money being spent on cutting greenhouse gas emissions by planting trees and restoring habitat under the Coalition’s Direct Action climate policy will have effectively been wiped out by little more than two years of forest-clearing elsewhere in the country, official government data suggests.

The $2.55bn emissions reduction fund pays landowners and companies to avoid emissions or store carbon dioxide using a reverse auction – the cheapest credible bids win. The government says it has signed contracts to prevent 124m tonnes of emissions through vegetation projects – mostly repairing degraded habitat, planting trees and ensuring existing forest on private land is not cleared.

Based on the average price paid by the government for a tonne of carbon dioxide, the projects will receive about $1.48bn from taxpayers as they deliver their cuts over the next decade.

Meanwhile, forest-clearing elsewhere in the country has released more than 160m tonnes of carbon dioxide since the emissions reduction fund began in 2015. Emissions projections data estimates another 60.3m tonnes will be emitted this year – equivalent to more than 10% of national emissions.[/size]

An analysis by the Wilderness Society suggests the official figures underestimate the rate of land-clearing, and in reality the projects paid for from the Direct Action emissions reductions fund would have had their work nullified in even less time.
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1147 on: June 04, 2018, 04:02:28 PM »
Still uses herbicides.  But 20 times less!  Details in the video.

This weed-killing AI robot can tell crops apart
Quote
A slew of AI weed killers are on the horizon and have the potential to disrupt the multibillion dollar pesticides business. Among them is Swiss-company ecoRobotix and its weed-killing robot.

It's solar-powered and can kill weeds for 12 hours straight without an operator at the helm. Through artificial intelligence, cameras and two robotic arms, the table-looking robot sprays a dose of herbicide on weeds but not the crops. EcoRobotix uses 20 times less herbicide than traditional methods that spray entire fields. ...
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/04/weed-killing-ai-robot.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1148 on: June 10, 2018, 07:30:38 PM »
The next stage of high tech tackles farming.

Tesla loses another of its most senior engineering executives to farming startup Plenty
Quote
The mission of Plenty is potentially bigger than the electrification of transportation or the grid. The energy consumed, the impact on the environment of farming all over the world is massive, and it’s a problem that needs a kind of engineering focus Tesla applies to vehicles. I think there’s a lot of opportunity to have a big impact.

A dozen former Tesla staff, including Kelty who joined Tesla in 2006 like Kalayjian, are reportedly also working at Plenty.

Plenty co-founder and CEO Matt Barnard said this about the fact that they seem to be hiring a lot from Tesla:

We’re ‘productizing’ farms. These are very dense, highly resource-efficient farms. It’s a very complex engineering problem. It’s super important for us to have a production system to grow food at prices that fit into everyone’s budget. Few people in the world that have led engineering development and productization processes that move as fast for systems that are as dense and complex as what Nick and his teams at Tesla have done.
https://electrek.co/2018/06/07/tesla-loses-senior-engineering-executive-farming-startup-plenty/
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queenie

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Re: Climate change, the ocean, agriculture, and FOOD
« Reply #1149 on: June 10, 2018, 08:24:17 PM »
I am an organic farmer and, while some tech innovations in farming excite me, others terrify me. I think it's the total disconnect between much of the tech community and the natural systems that lead to innovations that make no sense to farmers.
Plenty and the various container/indoor farm companies attracting huge investments right are the latest case in point. Here's why: 1. growing the few things they can reasonably grow in artificial environments has a huge carbon footprint. Professor Bruce Bugbee of Utah has this video on the carbon footprint of indoor farming here . 2. These indoor grows save much less land than they would have you believe especially when compared with some of the more innovative small organic farmers but also when compared with just conventional farm averages. Here are some real numbers on land use and yield. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4483736/.  3. The few things they've been able to grow with any level of efficiency are marginal to the food system and have limited ability to sustain life and health. The last point I'll make is the most important to me and many of the organic farmers I've discussed this with over the last several months and that's this.
Indoor farms divorce us from the planet, from the natural systems that feed and sustain us. They teach all the wrong lessons about growing food and feeding ourselves. They let us continue under the delusion that we can kill the planet and still eat. We can’t, not now, not ever. We should be putting all the investment dollars, and know how, that these companies have attracted – and they’ve attracted 10s of millions, into the kind of farming that heals the planet we have instead of one that kills it quicker while growing expensive salad for the rich.
Yes. our systems of agriculture are all screwed up but these indoor grows are not a solution that leads to a healthy, resilient planet.