...Energy to Save Our Crops Currently, the world in which we live is slowly becoming the future graveyard for mankind. Around 230 years ago, the industrial revolution allowed humans to further specialize in the division of labor with the aid of advanced machinery. In today’s society, people adamantly rely on machines such as city busses, aircraft, and automobiles to make their lives easier and more productive. Unfortunately, many of these machines burn fossil fuels such as gas, oil, and coal to create enough energy to function. When these fossil fuels are burned, they release carbon emissions in the air, which causes many negative effects to our climate. Sadly, thousands of American companies that rely on burning fossil fuels to support their factories and machinery are unwilling to invest in alternative sources of cleaner energy due to higher costs. Many of these companies disguise their fears of incurring higher costs by claiming that reducing carbon emissions will not significantly impact our ecosystems. Although it is a debated topic, most environmental scientists claim that climate change will decrease crop outputs due to increasing temperatures, disappearing quality pastureland, and higher incidences of insect reproduction and disease. In order to save our crops, I argue that we must continue subsidizing research and development for cleaner energy. To start, nearly all climate scientists acknowledge that increasing temperatures will decrease future crop outputs. For example...
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...AGRICULTURE TO CLIMATE CHANGE- A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE UTILISATION OF THE AGRO-ECOLOGICAL REGIONS A Review For Policy Makers J S Phiri, E Moonga, O Mwangase, G Chipeta 05-04-13 Climate Change, Agriculture and Agro-Eco Regions of Zambia, A Review. ZaAS Page 1 Foreword The Zambia Academy of Sciences (ZaAS) was established for a purpose of “Promoting Excellence in Scientific and Technical Endeavours” in Zambia. I am glad to see that as a young academy, we are on the right path towards fulfilling our objectives and especially our role of advancing the cause of science and technology. I would like to reiterate that ZaAS is ready and willing to contribute, as scientists in the sustainable development of our country as we strongly believe that Zambia can truly develop only through advancement in science and technology. This Policy Brief is in line with the aspirations of the Constitution of the Academy and specifically Articles 4 and 5 that empowers the Academy to initiate studies or can be requested by stakeholders including Government or persons to undertake such research for purposes of scientific advice, guidance or for purposes of advancing science and technology in Zambia. It is in recognising this important role that the first Policy Brief addresses climate change and food security. Climate change is a challenge universally considered the single most threatening situation facing mankind today since time immemorial. This Policy Brief tackles impacts of climate change on agriculture...
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...DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION COURSE CODE: AGE 121 COURSE TITLE: ARABLE CROP PRODUCTION QUESTION: DISCUSS THE INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION BY ABDUL-RASHEED MUHAMM DEPARTMENT: SHI/AGE DR. S. O. AGBATO AND MRS. SALAMI LECTURER IN CHARGE Climate change induced by increasing greenhouse gases is likely to affect crops differently from region to region. For example, average crop yield is expected to drop down to 50% in Pakistan according to the UKMO scenario whereas corn production in Europe is expected to grow up to 25% in optimum hydrologic conditions. More favourable effects on yield tend to depend to a large extent on realization of the potentially beneficial effects of carbon dioxide on crop growth and increase of efficiency in water use. Decrease in potential yields is likely to be caused by shortening of the growing period, decrease in water availability and poor vernalization. The overall effect of climate change on agriculture will depend on the balance of these effects. Assessment of the effects of global climate changes on agriculture might help to properly anticipate and adapt farming to maximize agricultural production. At the same time, agriculture has been shown to produce significant effects on climate change, primarily through the production and release of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide,...
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...Climate change implications for the Pacific Islands Across the planet now we see ever more flood, ever more drought, ever more storms. People are dying, communities are being wrecked and local plants and species are being wiped away — the impacts we’re already witnessing from climate change are unlike anything we have ever seen before. There is report that identifies small island states as being the most vulnerable countries of the world to the adverse impacts of climate change. The Pacific is in fact without a doubt one of the world’s most vulnerable regions when it comes to risk of disaster due to climate change, particularly several of the low-lying coral islands. Climate change is already affecting Pacific Islands with dramatic revenue loss across sectors such as agriculture, water resources, forestry, tourism and other industry-related sectors. Some of the projected impacts of climate change on main sectors that specifically apply to the Pacific Islands are listed below. (reference here) Agriculture is extremely vulnerable to climate change, with high temperature levels reducing yields of desirable crops and changes in precipitation patterns increasing crop failures (reference here). Pacific islands are constantly being exposed to these threats of climate change and we have already witnessed the effects of these threats. For example the different weather variations occurring in different parts of the pacific islands, low levels of our crops and forestry production...
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... pollutants transported by rivers from agricultural and urban lands, fishing pressures, climate change, invasive species, and toxic chemicals that had all entered into the Great Lakes. (Source 2). This shows that not only one specific factor is a major influencing stress on the Great Lakes, but all combined have the deadliest effect on the biolife, and natural threats to society. It was highly correlated that areas with higher human population caused for a higher disruption of stress levels. (Source...
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...A. According to the study, the Asia-Pacific region will experience the worst effect on rice and wheat yields worldwide, and decreased yields could threaten the food security of 1.6 billion people in South Asia. B. The crop model indicates that in South Asia, average yields in 2050 for crops will decline from 2000 levels by about 50 percent for wheat, 17 percent for rice, and about 6 percent for maize because of climate change. C. In East Asia and the Pacific, yields in 2050 for crops will decline from 2000 levels by up to 20 percent for rice, 13 percent for soybean, 16 percent for wheat, and 4 percent for maize because of climate change. D. With climate change, average calorie availability in Asia in 2050 is expected to be about 15 percent lower and cereal consumption is projected to decline by as much as 24 percent compared to a no climate change scenario. E. In a no-climate change scenario, the number of malnourished children in South Asia would fall from 76 to 52 million between 2000 and 2050, and from 24 to 10 million in East Asia and the Pacific. Climate change will erase some of this progress, causing the number of malnourished children in 2050 to rise to 59 million in South Asia and to 14 million in East Asia and the Pacific, increasing the total number of malnourished children in Asia by about 11 million. F. To counteract the effects of climate change on nutrition, South Asia requires additional annual investments of 1.5 billion USD in rural development...
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...Global warming is largely attributed to human activities that emit greenhouse gases to the atmosphere rather than the natural causes. The greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide are the main causes of global warming since presence in the atmosphere leads to absorption of heat energy from the sun rather than emitting it to the space (Silver 135). The issue of climate change is a global concern since affects all regions and not just the countries where there are huge emission of greenhouse gases. Despite this, the initiatives to control global warming mainly lie with the governments, environmental organizations, and industries whereas there is little input of the individuals. These agencies are characterized with deep information about the consequences of global warming that is linked to strong intervention practices adopted. There are numerous researches conducted on global warming and consequences whose discussions are embraced in government and environmental agencies. Greater success of intervention practices would be achieved through increased involvement of the people. Since the knowledge of global warming impacts is influential to the development of control measures, greater understanding of the impacts of global warming would be instrumental to attain increased involvement of individuals in intervention practices. Global warming causes extreme temperatures, which affect quality of life and could be unbearable to people and other living organisms in highly affected regions...
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...Climate change has been identified as the leading human and environmental crises of the 21st century (Tadesse, 2010). Globally, it adversely affects livelihood activities through the occurrence of diverse extreme events such as floods, cyclones, droughts, and unpredictable rainfall patterns (Urama & Ozor, 2010). Changes in temperature and rainfall patterns affect agriculture, especially in tropical regions. Consequently, rain-fed agriculture is seriously threatened resulting in imminent global food insecurity Although the impacts of climate change is global, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is noted to be the region most vulnerable to many adverse effects of climate change because of her high dependence on rain-fed agriculture for food security, economic growth, coupled with low adaptive capacity (Kotir, 2011). In SSA, 93% of cultivated land is rain-fed (Sharma, 2011) and over 80% of the rural households derive their livelihoods from rain-fed agriculture (Gbetibouo & Mills, 2012) with about a third of the people in this region living in drought prone dry lands (Singh et al., 2009). Climate change has resulted in low crop productivity and crop...
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...Impacts Of Climate Change in the Caricom Countries What is Climate Change? According to ‘oxforddictionary.com’ Climate change is a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels. Climate change is already beginning to transform life on Earth since around the globe, seasons are shifting, temperatures are climbing and sea levels are rising. Pertaining to climate change it has both natural and human causes and short and long climate forcer. Also it has dangerous effects such as higher temperatures, changing landscapes etc. In the Caribbean, the states in the region formed an organisation that is called Caricom where they joined together to work on various matters. The fifteen (15) Caricom countries are Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Focusing on climate changes in the fifteen (15) Caricom countries in the Caribbean, it is considered to be one of the biggest threats to nature and humanity towards them because it can bring about negative and destructive effects caused by short lived and long lived climatic forces. Mostly likely in the Caricom countries, they face potential economic impacts of climate change with their agriculture...
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...productively (economic decline) and overall quality of life are affected by food insecurity. Climate change further exacerbates the threat of food insecurity. Food security situation in which all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. This depends on the availability, access and biological utilization of food. (World Food Summit 1996) Climate change refers to any significant change in the weather or distribution of weather events over an extended period. This includes major changes in temperature, rainfall, wind patterns, precipitation. The impacts of climate change food security may be felt primarily through changes in crop yields, water availability, pests and diseases and animal health (terrestrial and aquatic) The threat that climate changes pose to agricultural sector is alarming. The increased frequency and extent of floods, droughts and land erosion has rendered the agriculture sector more vulnerable and reduced the productivity of land and the potential for plant production. Although increases in temperature and carbon dioxide can be very beneficial to (some) crops, other impacts from global warming could counteract the effects reducing overall yield. Excess soil moisture, in addition to direct flood damage, is a major component of crop losses due to extreme precipitation events. Heavy rainfall washes away vital nutrients in the...
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...Summary: Al Gore: clear proof that climate change cause extreme weather by Severin Carrell is an article that shows the effect of climate change. In the firsts paragraphs, the writer introduce Al Gore which is a former US vice president and the fact that he thinks that climate change cause extreme weather all around the world. Secondly, to support his statement Gore gives us many arguments and one of them was that many scientific discover that there was a connection between carbon emission and the increase of extreme weather. Also, to support his statement he use a lot of statistic. For example, he said that scientific proved that water vapor increase by 4% in 30 years. Finally, Gore says that the young generation is another big factor because it’s a generation of demand. In other words, young children are claimer regarding technology and this is not often green. Response: In my view, climate change cause extreme weather because human activity. Since the Industrial Revolution has increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, leading to increased radiative forcing from CO2, methane, tropospheric ozone, CFCs and nitrous oxide¹. According to work published in 2007, the concentrations of CO2 and methane have increased by 36% and 148% respectively since 1750. Also, I think the future impacts of climate change will be uneven. Many risks are expected to increase global warming. For example, low-latitude, less developed areas face the greatest risk. A study from 2015...
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...implies that the economy is maturing, moving towards the secondary and tertiary sectors. However, farming remains vitally important to the economy with 638 000 people formally employed (Statistics SA, 2012 Q2) – although it’s estimated that around 8,5-million people are directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture for their employment and income. However, global climate change will affect the government’s efforts to alleviate poverty and fast-track development in rural areas. Definition of terms Global warming: refers to the increased temperature of Earth's surface, including land, water and near-surface air. Climate change: means a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods (UNFCCC). 2. Causes of Climate Change Any factor that causes a sustained change to the amount of incoming energy or the amount of outgoing energy can lead to climate change. They are factors that operate in favour of climate change; these factors that cause climate change can be divided into two categories. Those related to natural processes and those related to human activity. 1|Page...
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...principles, contribution to farming and the associated limitations- an analysis Summary Chicory (Cichorium intybus) is an increasingly popular crop that is excellent in providing high quality feed and high mineral content to grazing animals. Chicory is fast to establish and competitive for its resources given the right conditions, thus has high yields that occur in autumn, spring and summer. Yields expected, range from 8- 10t/ ha which consist of green leaf tissue which is valuable to New Zealand farms. The aim of the report is to find out the potential contribution of chicory to New Zealand farms by its agronomic principles, main advantages and the associated limitations. The literature covered in the findings is from Australian and New Zealand journals and websites, majority being by New Zealand researchers. Findings suggest that chicory is beneficial to New Zealand system under the right conditions following certain guidelines and recommendations. Deer and lambs can do better on chicory rather than the traditional ryegrass (table 1). Other findings suggest that climate change will have an impact on plant growth in chicory. Introduction Chicory is classed as a forage crop that belongs to the Asteracea family. It is commonly used as a specialist summer feed crop which is vital during summer and spring. Unique advantages of the crop ranges from maintaining and increasing the feed supply and quality whilst also providing a source of minerals to the grazing animal. Agronomic...
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...MADHYA PRADESH Overview: The main crops grown in kharif season are Soybean, Paddy, Maize, Bajara and Tur etc. and in rabi season Wheat, Gram, Mustered, Cotton, Jowar and vegetables. Sugarcane, Custard apple and Banana are also grown in some districts. Madhya Pradesh is highest producer of pulses, Gram and Soybean contributing 21.38%, 40.33% and 59.92%, respectively and is second in oil seed production; Jowar, Masoor contributing 22.10, 14.11, and 22.30%, respectively to the total production of India. The main crops grown in kharif season are Soybean, Paddy, Maize, Bajara and Tur etc. and in rabi season Wheat, Gram, Mustered, Cotton, Jowar and vegetables. Sugarcane, Custard apple and Banana are also grown in some districts. Madhya Pradesh is highest producer of pulses, Gram and Soybean contributing 21.38%, 40.33% and 59.92%, respectively and is second in oil seed production; Jowar, Masoor contributing 22.10, 14.11, and 22.30%, respectively to the total production of India. Madhya Pradesh is predominantly Kharif Crops growing State. Kharif Crops occupies about 54.25% whereas Rabi Crops occupies about 45.75% area out of the total cropped area in the State. About 41% of cropped area generally occupied by cereal crops, while pulses occupied 21% area and oilseed occupied about 27% area. Vegetables, fruits, fodder and other horticultural crops occupy rest 11% area. Trend over years: Compound Annual Growth Rates of Area for Major Crops - 1967-68 to 2007-08 High( > 4.0%...
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...nothing done soon people could run out of what is crucial to survive. Genetically modified organisms are used to create a rapid growth of resources. Gmo is an outlet that is used for products such as corn and others that are widely used and needed for either food or other resources like oil. Therefore, genetically modified organisms are more efficient crops, because of the lack of harm it causes to Americans, the variety of ways it could be used for, and the efficiency it has due to climate change. There are uncertainties on weather genetically...
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