Climate Change threatens Food and Water Supplies, while Farming and Land Practices fuel the change, says new U.N. Report

Changing climate imperils global food and water supplies, new U.N. study finds

Agriculture and other land use accounts for 23 percent of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.

by Brady Dennis | Aug 8 2019 | Washington Post

The world cannot avoid the worst impacts of climate change without making serious changes to the ways humans grow food, raise livestock and manage forests, according to a landmark study Thursday from an international group of scientists.

The sprawling report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) examines how land use around the world contributes to the warming of Earth’s atmosphere. But the report also details how climate change is already threatening food and water supplies for humans: turning arable land to desert; degrading soil; and increasing the threat of droughts, floods and other extreme weather that can wreak havoc on crops.

It makes clear that although fossil fuel-burning power plants and automobile tailpipes are the largest drivers of climate change, activities such as agriculture and forestry account for an estimated 23 percent of total human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.

“We already knew that humanity’s over-exploitation of the Earth’s lands is a key driver of climate change, and that we need to take urgent, ambitious action to address these issues,” Jennifer Tabola, director for global climate strategy at the Nature Conservancy, said in a statement. “We have a choice: do we balance the needs of human development and nature, or do we sleepwalk into a future of failing farmlands, eroding soil, collapsing ecosystems and dwindling food resources?”

Four years ago in Paris, world leaders agreed to take aggressive action to keep global warming to “well below” 2 degree Celsius, compared with pre-industrial levels. Their aspiration was to limit warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (the world has already warmed 1 degree).

But Thursday’s report, which includes the work of 107 experts from 52 countries, underscores that meeting those goals will require fundamental changes not only to the transportation and energy sectors, but also by cutting emissions from agriculture and deforestation — all while feeding growing populations.dd

Last fall, IPCC scientists found that nations will need to take “unprecedented” actions to cut their carbon emissions over the next decade to avoid devastating effects from rising seas, more intense storms and other impacts of climate change.

[The world has just over a decade to get climate change under control, U.N. scientists say]

They also detailed how such a radical transformation would require large swaths of land currently used to produce food to instead be converted to growing trees that store carbon and crops designated for energy use.

“Such large transitions pose profound challenges for sustainable management of the various demands on land for human settlements, food, livestock feed, fibre, bioenergy, carbon storage, biodiversity and other ecosystem services,” the authors wrote at the time.

A significant amount of agricultural emissions comes from livestock — primarily from the belches of cattle. Additionally, while all soils emit some nitrous oxide, soil on farms often emits higher levels because of nitrogen that is added in the form of manure, fertilizers or other material. Meanwhile, deforestation in places such as the Amazon and Indonesia has harmed the ability of forests to retain carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Open Discussion: Climate and America’s Migration Issues

THE SIERRA CLUB

CLIMATE AND CLEAN ENERGY WRITERS GROUP

Thursday, November 15, 2018

Climate and America’s Migration Issues

Climate Change is driving migration throughout the world by demolishing homes, destroying harvests and disrupting local economies.  The UN states that “An annual average of 21.5 million people have been forcibly displaced by weather-related sudden onset hazards – such as floods, storms, wildfires, extreme temperature – each year since 2008”.  At the same time, immigration policy is an issue that is dividing America.  

Join a discussion of this crucial issue!

6:00-7:30 PM - Crane Branch Library - 633 Elmwood at Highland 
2nd Floor Meeting Room
  
Free and open to the public – writers and non-writers alike
billnowa@gmail.com for info

SEMINAR: Climate Change and Food Security

Cornell Scientist to speak on Climate Change and Food Security

"Climate Change and the Future of Food" is the title of a presentation by Dr. David Walter Wolfe, a prominent climate scientist from Cornell University. The talk will be delivered on October 10th, 2014 at the University at Buffalo, South Campus. 

Dr. Wolfe, is a Professor of Plant and Soil Ecology in the Department of Horticulture at Cornell University. He has worked and published extensively in the area of agriculture and climate change.

Dr. Wolfe's presentation will be followed by a Q&A session, and a casual reception soon after. The presentation will take place in 114 Wende Hall, South Campus from 2:00-3:30 pm and it is Open to the Public.

Dr Wolfe's visit is being sponsored and organized by the Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities lab, in the School of Architecture and Planning.

We are hoping you will be able to join us and add to the discussions that follow. Please send any questions you may have for Dr Wolfe to subhashn@buffalo.edu by October 7th. These questions will be used during the Q & A session.

To view a flyer for the event, click here. We would appreciate you sharing the flyer and the information about the presentation with your network.