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China Fears Disasters, Grain Cut from Global Warming Planet Ark | December 28, 2006 Global warming threatens to intensify natural disasters and water shortages across China, driving down the country's food output, the Chinese government has warned, even as its seeks to tame energy consumption. The most direct impact of climate change will be on China's grain production. The climate change warnings came as Chinese President Hu Jintao called for intensified efforts to save energy. China, the world's fourth-largest economy and second biggest energy user, has set a goal to cut energy consumption per unit of national income by 20 percent by 2010. State seeks permission to grow trial crops of GM drought-tolerant wheat The Age | Peter Ker | December 22, 2006 The story says that the Victorian Government has applied to a Federal Government regulator for permission to grow trial crops of drought-tolerant GM wheat. The story explains that if the application is approved, as critics expect, by the Gene Technology Regulator within the Federal Government's Department of Health and Ageing, two crops of the GM wheat would be grown in Horsham and Mildura. Pesticides need sunscreen to beat the heat Chemistry & Industry | December 17, 2006 A pesticide with a new in-built sunscreen will help farmers beat the heat in crop protection. This means that the bug sprays last longer, as they are protected from the strong rays of sunshine. This is becoming increasingly important as temperatures rise, with the Met Office announcing that several heat records were broken in the UK this year. The team of scientists, led by Dr Li-Xiong Wen, has developed a new type of capsule that shields pesticides from UV light. Dr Wen believes that the pesticide will be more effective as a result, thereby reducing the amount required and the cost to the farmer. It could also mean cleaner waters, as the risks of excess pesticide contamination will be lowered. Better farming urged to limit deserts, refugees Planet Ark | Alister Doyle | December 15, 2006 U.N. experts were cited as saying on Thursday that desertification could create millions of refugees unless governments promote less water-intensive farming and new jobs ranging from solar energy to eco-tourism. They said many of the world's drylands, home to 2 billion people and including many crop regions from Africa to Australia, were under threat of turning to dust, in part because of a global warming widely blamed on human use of fossil fuels. One idea was to encourage poor people in rural areas to stop traditional burning of crop residues and animal dung for fuel, shifting to wind or solar energy. Crop residues and dung could then be used as fertiliser, slowing desertification. Vine disease is only the beginning Penticton Herald | December 14, 2006 Murray Mason of Penticton, B.C., writes that would the introduction of the Bois Noir disease into the Okanagan Valley provide the same outcomes to the wine industry, as mad cow disease did to the cattle industry? The impact of Bois Noir disease is serious; so serious, that Tony Murray, president of the B.C. Grapegrowers Association, in last Friday's Penticton Herald headline story said, "A lot of people have invested lots of money into building wineries and betting on the future. If the future turns out to be a bug that damages the industry, then it loses steam. We're just getting our momentum up." Mr. Murray's prediction is backed up by what delegates heard this year at the first international Global Warming and Wine Conference March 24-25 in Barcelona Spain. The conference was reported on in a July 15 article by David Furer, in Wine Business Monthly, a leading magazine for wineries and growers. Furer's article, "Why The Wine Industry Should Worry About Global Warming" outlines what is happening to the industry due to increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In direct relation to Bois Noir disease, the article quotes Dr. Richard Smart, a respected international vineyard consultant, about the presence of a new bug thriving in Southern Germany due to increased temperatures. This bug, a leafhopper, is a vector for Bois Noir phytoplasma disease, and was given as an example of the effects of climate change. Furer's story went onto say that research has shown 30 per cent of vines infected with Bois Noir disease will be symptomatic in the second year of exposure, providing no yield. David Furer's article is available online at www.winebusiness.com. Yes, Bois Noir disease is serious, and it could deliver a stab directly into the heart of the fledgling Okanagan wine industry. So far, only 2,000 infected vines have been found here, and there is no evidence of the leafhopper that spreads the disease. But even if the current infestation turns out to be merely a flesh wound, the industry should not breathe any easier. The results of global warming are increasing, and unless we take measures now to curb carbon dioxide production, it may be only a matter of a few years before we witness the collapse of viticulture in the Okanagan Valley. But there is hope. Over the last few years, former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore has been travelling the world providing the facts about global warming, and what we can do about it, to politicians, industry and the public. In Mr. Gore's book, and film by the same name, "An Inconvenient Truth", he explains, among other things, the impact of global warming on industries like the wine industry. Global warming is on the radar screen for many people, and hopefully for the politicians, too. Just last week, "An Inconvenient Truth" was screened before a packed hall at the Narmamata Centre, and later in Penticton. It is significant the screening of this environmental documentary before so many people dependent on the wine industry should come at the same time Naramata was named the centre of the Okanagan wine industry, and the Valley as one of the top 12 destinations in the world in Frommer's travel guide. The presence of Bois Noir disease in the Okanagan was quickly identified by government and industry, and they are diligently working towards eradication. But, this type of infestation is just the beginning of a long line of outcomes due to global warming, which indeed, is an inconvenient truth for us all. India Ahead of Many in Adapting to Global Warming Planet Ark | Nita Bhalla | December 8, 2006 India, likely to be one of the countries worst-hit by global warming, is already ahead of most developing nations in putting in place measures to help it adapt to climate change, the World Bank said on Thursday. Experts predict that the earth's temperature will rise by 2-3 degrees centigrade in the next 50 years if greenhouse gas emissions continue at current rates. This will seriously affect the Indian subcontinent and result in more frequent and more severe natural disasters like floods and droughts, more disease and poor crop yields, they add. On the sidelines of an international conference on climate change, the World Bank's lead environmental specialist for South Asia, Bilal Rahill, said despite the threats, India was ahead in adapting to climatic variability. "Adaptation is the same as development as it is basically about improving people's ability to deal with adversity whether it be adverse weather conditions or poverty," Rahill said. "India has a number of development programmes that have inherent, built-in adaptation aspects ... (and) has a lead as its been dealing with more climate variability than most developing nations." Rahill told Reuters India was already implementing projects to improve water management to cope with erratic rains and build infrastructure in coastal areas in case of cyclones or flooding due to rising sea levels. But it still needed to do more. Australia drought has impact on farmers Agnet | Rod McGuirk | December 5, 2006 Drought and flood have, according to this story, been a familiar feature of Australia's vast cattle and sheep ranches and shimmering grain fields ever since the first Europeans settled here more than 200 years ago. But this "big dry" is the worst and widest, officials say, and poses a massive economic challenge. It could bring lasting changes to the Earth's driest inhabited continent and sharpen a debate about whether drought-hit farmers should simply leave the Outback for rainier parts of the country. Experts Worry Warmer Earth Will Slash Farm Yields Planet Ark | Missy Ryan | December 5, 2006 Urgent action is needed to make sure a warming climate doesn't slash crop yields, heighten the risk of famine and deepen poverty for the world's most vulnerable. "Climate change is not just in the future. It's happening now," said Cynthia Rosenzweig, a NASA scientist and co-chair of an international panel on climate change, told a meeting of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Researchers held in Washington. Farm and food experts gathered for the group's annual meeting this week focused on how climate change will affect harvests. Experts said the first step to countering the looming threat is further research that will produce weather and crop forecasts than can inform policymakers' decisions. Development of hardier "climate-ready" crops that can withstand warmer climates and resist water and salt is also needed, they said. Climate-sensitive management, including more efficient use of water, will also help. INTERVIEW - New Crops Needed to Meet Climate Crisis Planet Ark | Jeremy Lovell | December 1, 2006 A group of leading agricultural research institutes will on Monday launch a major drive to prepare the most vulnerable people in the world for the devastating effects of global warming. With large parts of the world facing dramatic crop losses from rising temperatures and changed rainfall patterns, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) says action is needed immediately and at all levels. |
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