The Lubin Files

6 Ways Climate Change May Affect You

We are all aware of the effects of climate change now, but it is interesting to see how it might affect us in decades to come.

National Geographic Daily News created a list of six major changes with slides.  The first slide discusses the effect of climate change on agriculture.  According to this news item, climate change will cause declines in yields of certain crops, and increases in others.  Climate change is likely linked to declining bee populations, which results in insufficient crop pollination.  In the future, it will also affect:

"food processing, storage, and transportation—industries that require an increasing amount of expensive water and energy as global demand rises—leading to higher food prices."

Click through the slideshow to see how climate change might affect you.

 

Black Carbon and Climate Change

A four year study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres determined that soot, or black carbon, is the second most damaging greenhouse agent in the atmosphere after carbon dioxide.  The black color absorbs heat, contributing to an increase in temperature where large quantities of soot are found in the atmosphere. 

Black carbon is particularly damaging in frozen regions.  When it falls on snow and ice, it increases the amount of light and heat that they absorb, quickening the pace at which they melt.  All of this contributes to global warming.  

The largest impact of soot is on human respiratory health.  A UNEP report suggests that controlling carbon emissions could save 2.4 million lives a year. 

The good news is that black carbon is easier to eliminate as an environmental hazard than CO2.  Unlike carbon dioxide, once you stop soot from entering the atmosphere, it cleans itself up in a matter of weeks. 

Also see this news article regarding black carbon in the Economist.

New FAO publication: “The Impact of Climate Change and Bioenergy on Nutrition”

The recent FAO/Springer publication “The Impact of Climate Change and Bioenergy on Nutrition” examines the effects of climate change, bioenergy, and the economic crises of 2007-2010 on food and nutrition security. It shows how climate changes could affect food production through declines in crop yields, aquatic populations and forest productivity, proliferation of invasive insect and plant species and increases in desertification, soil salinization and water stress.

Similarly the pathways by which increased demands for biofuels can negatively affect food and nutrition security including by reducing physical availability and economic access to food and by increasing the risk of disease are described. Biofuel production may reduce women’s control of resources, which may in turn reduce the quality of household diets.

The book provides a unique collection of nutrition statistics, climate change projections, biofuel scenarios and food security information and offers explicit examples of adaptation and mitigation strategies for climate change and biofuel production within the agricultural sector.

"Farming First" is working toward many similar goals as FAO!!!

Unlike FAO, Farming First is not an organization, but a coalition.  It is supported by 131 different organizations who all hope to further sustainable agricultural development worldwide.  Farming First was developed in response to the global challenges posed at the 2009 United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-17).

Together, this coalition highlights the importance of improving farmers’ livelihoods and agriculture’s potential contribution to global issues such as food security, climate change, and biodiversity. It also aims to build synergies amongst its supporters in promoting Farming First’s mission.

On their website, you can learn more about the six principles of their action plan: Safeguarding natural resources, Sharing knowledge, Building local access and capacity, Protecting harvests, Enabling access to markets, and Prioritising research imperatives.  Go to their Case Studies page for an interactive map that leads to links about what Farming First is doing worldwide.

V11 countries adopts carbon declaration

The 11-nation group called the V11 issued a challenge yesterday at the Climate Vulnerable Forum, held in the Maldives.  Articles in BBC news online and tcktcktck describe their call for developed nations to pledge 1.5 percent of their Gross Domestic Product for climate action in the developing world.  The V11 will present their declaration at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen next month.

What carbon offsets pay for

Locals in the southeastern part of Brazil are being paid not to cut down trees, according to this article from The Economist.  Inspectors will visit the area to make sure the trees are still alive, and if they are, money will be credited to the debit card accounts of locals.

The funds come from carbon offsets paid by polluters in developed countries.

This strategy is known as “avoided deforestation” or “reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation” (REDD).  The David Lubin Memorial Library's catalogue lists several items on this topic.

Warmer than we thought?

BBC reports on disturbing new findings by the Met Office (the UK's National Weather Service) that the global average temperature could rise by 4°C (7.2°F) by 2060.

The prediction finds variations depending on geographic zone.  For example, it estimates that the temperature in the Arctic could rise by 15°C (27°F) by the end of the century.

The Met Office's projections are based upon an increase in the use of fossil fuels.  Perhaps the dire prediction will assist governments in policymaking and in planning for the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in December.

Massive dust storm in Australia a manifestation of climate change

A few days ago, Sydney was enveloped in dust.  An enormous dust storm swept over thousands of kilometers in Australia and made the sky appear red.  Longtime drought conditions paired with severe winds to create the storm.

Health department officals declared the air quality to be 20 times the "hazardous" level.

According to this article, an enormous dust storm stripped several millimetres of topsoil from hundreds of square kilometres of farms across New South Wales.  The result will be a loss of soil productivity.

The Australian bureau of meteorology reported that this was the worst dust storm since the 1940s, with particle pollution up to 10 times worse than the previous record.

The swath of dust is impressive in this NASA satellite photo.

If you care to read more about the increase of dust storms due to climate change, the library has this book.

A larger approach to food security and environmental change

A recent editorial in Environmental Science and Policy makes for interesting reading.  The editors call for an integrated food system approach to the relationship between food security and environmental change, as opposed to the usual focus on agricultural practices.

The David Lubin Memorial Library has access to both the print and electronic versions of this publication.

Citation:
Ericksen, Polly J., John S.I. Ingram, and Diana M. Liverman. Food security and global environmental change: emerging challenges. Environmental Science & Policy 12.4 (June 2009): 373-377. Special Issue: Food Security and Environmental Change, Food Security and Environmental Change: Linking Science, Development and Policy for Adaptation. Elsevier Science. Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Plethora of full-text documents on major FAO topics

A library patron requested electronically-available FAO documents on the topics of climate change and food security; bioenergy and climate change, and climate adaptation.

Here is our list:

CLIMATE CHANGE AND FOOD SECURITY:

The State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI) High food prices and Food Security, threats and opportunities. http://www.fao.org/docrep/011/i0291e/i0291e00.htm

Climate Change & Food Security: a Framework Document.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/k2595e/k2595e00.htm

Climate change and biodiversity for food and agriculture. High Level Conference on World Food Security - Background Paper HLC/08/BAK/3. FAO.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/013/ai784e.pdf

FAO. 2008. Climate change, water and food security. High Level Conference on World Food Security - Background Paper HLC/08/BAK/2.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/013/ai783e.pdf

BIOENERGY:

The State of Food and Agriculture 2008. Biofuels: prospects, risks and opportunities: http://www.fao.org/docrep/011/i0100e/i0100e00.htm

High Level Conference on World Food Security:the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy. 
List of documents: http://www.fao.org/foodclimate/conference/doclist/en/?no_cache=1

FAO/IFPRI. 2008. Impact of Climate Change and Bioenergy on Nutrition. http://www.fao.org/ag/AGN/agns/files/HLC2_Food_Safety_Bioenergy_Climate_Change.pdf

The market and food security implications of the development of biofuel production. Background document for the FAO Committee on Commodity Problems 67th session. Rome, 20-22 April 2009.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/016/k4477e.pdf

Bioenergy, food security and sustainability - towards an international framework. Background document for the High-level Conference on World Food Security: the challenges of climate change and bionergy. Rome, 3-5 June 2008. http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/foodclimate/HLCdocs/HLC08-inf-3-E.pdf

Climate change, bioenergy and food security: options for decision-makers identified by expert meetings Background document for the High-level Conference on World Food Security: the challenges of climate change and bionergy. Rome, 3-5 June 2008.
http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/foodclimate/HLCdocs/HLC08-inf-5-E.pdf

CLIMATE ADAPTATION:

Low Greenhouse Gas Agriculture. Mitigation and adaptation potential of sustainable farming systems.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/ai781e/ai781e00.pdf

Climate change adaptation and mitigation in the food and agriculture sector. High Level Conference on World Food Security - Background Paper HLC/08/BAK/1. FAO.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/013/ai782e.pdf

Climate change adaptation and mitigation: challenges and opportunities in the food sector. High Level Conference on World Food Security - Information Paper HLC/08/INF/2.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/013/k2545e.pdf

Dryland Pastoral Systems and Climate Change: Implications and Opportunities for Mitigation and Adaptation.
http://www.fao.org/climatechange/media/15537/0/0/

Terrestrial essential climatic variables for climate change monitoring, mitigation and adaptation. Rome, FAO.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a1430e/a1430e.pdf

Climate change and disaster risk management. High Level Conference on World Food Security - Background Paper HLC/08/BAK/5. FAO.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/013/ai786e.pdf