Action: Increase the budgets of our Departments of Agriculture
 |
| #hunger |
Extreme weather = extreme hunger
Climate change is one of the biggest threats to ending global hunger.
Weather patterns are getting more extreme and unreliable, and it’s
playing havoc with food production. As our planet heats up, the forecast
is more hunger.
Big polluters are causing climate change to worsen. They’re putting
our food, water and health at risk and making huge profits at the
expense of poor communities.
The coal industry is one of the worst offenders."
OXFAM
 |
| Farming Innovations |
"Climate change is altering conditions that sustain food production, with cascading consequences for food security and global economies. Recent research evaluated the simultaneous impacts of climate change on agriculture and marine fisheries globally.
 |
| Climate change will affect flowering and fruiting. |
Modelling of those impacts under a business-as-usual carbon emission scenario suggested about 90% of the world’s population – most of whom live in the least developed countries – will experience reductions in food production this century.
Implications for agriculture are manifold. For example, many temperate crops require cool autumn or winter temperatures to initiate flowering or fruit ripening. Orchards may need to be relocated further south, or novel low-chill varieties may need to be bred, as is already happening around the world.
Read more: Climate explained: regenerative farming can help grow food with less impact
Insect pests and diseases are normally controlled by our low winter temperatures, but they may become more of a problem in the future. Introduced pests and diseases include fruit flies that have a major impact in Australia and other more tropical countries, but struggle to establish breeding colonies in New Zealand. Strong biosecurity controls are our best bet for reducing this risk.
What matters more than the gradual increase in temperature predicted by climate change models, is the greater frequency of extreme weather events. These include droughts, floods and hail, which can lead to total crop losses in particular regions.
 |
| Adaptation of farming methods will be key |
As a recent report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) explains, rising temperatures, rising seas and the increasing frequency of adverse weather events will interact to reduce agricultural and horticultural productivity in many regions around the world. https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-how-climate-change-will-affect-food-production-and-security-128106
 |
| Poorer countries will suffer most from hunger |
"Growing solutions to the climate crisis
The July IPCC report cited above lists various adaptation and mitigation measures that could help reduce the adverse impacts of food and dietary preferences on climate change. The suggestions address more sustainable food production and diets (more plant-based, less meat-based); improved forestry management (including reducing deforestation and increasing reforestation); agricultural carbon sequestration, including no-till farming practices; and reducing food waste.
And it warns that delaying action will be costly:
Deferral of [greenhouse gas] emissions reductions from all sectors implies trade-offs including irreversible loss in land ecosystem functions and services required for food, health, habitable settlements and production, leading to increasingly significant economic impacts on many countries in many regions of the world."https://skepticalscience.com/guide-climate-change-food-impacts.html
 |
| Part contents of IPCC report |
"So, what can individuals do to help avert some of the worsening impacts of climate on food supply? There in fact are a number of ways to help support climate-friendlier food production. Improving soil health, on a large-scale, is one key way forward. Nutrient-rich soil stores carbon better than degraded, overworked soil. Plus, healthy soil helps farms stay productive – a win-win.
Consumers can boost these efforts, by supporting farmers and ranchers who engage in sustainable practices like cover cropping and composting.
 |
| We waste a third of the food produced |
Reducing meat consumption is another way to reduce the climate impact of food production, given that a livestock farm is like a methane factory, contributing an estimated 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Meatless Mondays, “flexitarian” diets, and the rise of faux-meat brands are all testimony to the growing efforts aimed at reducing meat consumption.
In addition to consumer actions, there are interesting new ways forward on the industry side. Manure digesters, for one, can convert methane from manure into electricity. And seaweed is gaining scientific interest for its potential in making cattle burp less often. (Yes, you read that right.)
Policy efforts will likely be key also. California for its part has goals to direct some cap-and-trade funding to build compost facilities, and incentivize methane reduction in dairies.
The challenges ahead are steep. But so too are the opportunities to adapt to new realities and reduce assorted diverse impacts.
According to Project Drawdown, three of the top 10 best climate solutions have something to do with food, from reducing food waste (3) and choosing a plant-rich diet (4) to silvopasturing (9), which integrates trees and pasture into a single ecosystem."
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/09/a-brief-guide-to-the-impacts-of-climate-change-on-food-production/
"There are things we can and must do in the hope of adaptation- there is no research that adaptation will help. They start with best agricultural practices, which applies to all regions. The best practice for both food production and addressing climate change is organic agriculture and best form of that regarding climate change is agro-forestry. Much progress has been made in methods like no-till agriculture and more efficient irrigation. Permaculture can be an important source of food production in urban and country settings." http://www.climatechange-foodsecurity.org/solutions.html
 |
| Cities and climate change |
"Given the serious threats to food security, attention should shift to an action-oriented research agenda, where we see four key challenges: (a) changing the culture of research; (b) deriving stakeholder-driven portfolios of options for farmers, communities and countries; (c) ensuring that adaptation actions are relevant to those most vulnerable to climate change; (d) combining adaptation and mitigation." https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211912415300262
 |
| Remove subsidies for planet harming crops |
More at this Excellent Reference: https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resourcesfoodsecurityreport2015/
Related: Prepare for Economic Chaos
External related link: theguardian: lab-grown-food-destroy-farming-save-planet