As Global Temperature Rises, So Do Food Prices
As concerns mount over extreme weather hitting global food systems this year, governments are no closer to forging a pact to fight climate change. The effects of extreme weather on crops are only beginning to be understood.
For decades scientists studied the effect of global warming on crops by simply raising temperatures and carbon dioxide levels in greenhouses. They did not take into account the effects of floods and droughts, or reduced yields that result from higher temperatures.
Dramatic Depletion of World Food Production Linked to Wildfires
World climate events these past days have been so extreme and have caused so much destruction and loss of life, you might think you’re sitting through a bad disaster movie. But as tragic as the terrible flooding in Pakistan, China and Eastern Europe has been, the heat and wildfires in Russia will have a very serious long-term effect, that of drastically increasing atmospheric CO2 and Methane concentrations and thereby increasing the risk of drought and wildfires in many parts of the world.
Another long-term effect will be that of severely depleting world grain supply, already at a low level. Gwynne Dyer explains the implications of this in his disturbing article for Straight.com, “Gwynne Dyer: Russian response to wildfires gives an early glimpse of climate change impact.”
Russia Burning: The View From Above and at Ground Level
Note from Dorothy: As of today – Sunday, August 8 – there are 554 fires burning in Russia, in 190,000 hectares. On Friday, the air temperature in Moscow reached 37.3 C, beating the previous 1920 record by nearly 2 C. According to BBC World News, carbon monoxide was at six times the danger level. There [...]
‘Merchants of Doubt’ Misuse Science to Mislead the Public
A dark ideology is driving those who deny climate change
People who claim that climate science is a conspiracy or the work of charlatans are talking rubbish
by Robin McKie
The Observer, August 1, 2010
Cross-posted from BC-SEA News
Life can be hard in Moscow. The Russian capital is sweltering in temperatures that reached a record 37.7C last week. Vast [...]
Future High Temperature Rise Could Cause Up to 6.7 Million Mexicans To Migrate
Note from Dorothy: Many have long been aware of what the heating of our planet will mean for Mexico as it gets hotter and dryer. The study below, however, shows the direct linkages between crop failure and degrees Celsius of warming.
The people of Mexico, who have done the least to cause dangerous climate change, will [...]
More Dark Global Warming News on a Hot Friday
Two articles: “Ten Nations at ‘Extreme Risk’ Because of Water Shortages, Report Says” and “Heat Waves to Intensify Across U.S. in Next 30 Years, Study Says”
Gwynne Dyer Speaks About Climate Wars on Democracy Now
A new book by geopolitical analyst and columnist Gwynne Dyer imagines what the politics and demographics of the world might look like if temperatures continue to rise. Dyer writes ‘In this world our worries are not just hotter summers, bigger hurricanes, rising sea levels, and polar bears swimming for their lives. We’re trying to avoid megadeaths from mass starvation and quite possibly from nuclear wars and the odds aren’t good,” he writes.The June 1, 2010 edition of his book is called “Climate Wars: The Fight for Survival as the World Overheats.”
Cleaning Up the Excess CO2
The other way to reduce the air’s excess CO2 is to unbalance the carbon cycle, typically by preventing some of the CO2 captured by photosynthesis from going back into the air when cells decompose. One has to stash dead biomass where the air can’t get to it. While sealed landfills help, it is only the ocean depths that would appear to have the capacity to draw down all of the CO2 that we have added since 1750.
Global Climatic Disruption Becoming More Evident
It’s easy for people in Russia, England and on the eastern coast of the US, with the severe winter conditions they’re experiencing, to forget that on other parts of our Planet are feeling the heat of dangerous climate change. What we should remember is that what we’re witnessing is not so much “Global Warming,” or even “Climate Change,” but “Global Climatic Disruption,” the term coined by President Obama’s chief science advisor John Holdren.
Final Episode of BBC World’s “Hot Cities” Available
Los Angeles is one of the most polluting cities in the world thanks largely to its love affair with the car. It is a city built on consumption. Each person produces around 20 tonnes of emissions per year – twice as much as anyone else. Now they are about to reap what has been sown. In LA there has been a big increase in wildfires, water supplies are under threat, rising sea levels could have a massive impact on LA’s huge port and destroy thousands of homes. “Hot Cities” goes to LA just as the city launches its adaptation strategy.
