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Best wishes for the New Year ahead. Climate change seems to be a hot news topic this season so we anticipate increased interest in our network and have a busy few months coming up. Greetings from C-CIARN Agriculture, C-CIARN Agriculture workshops and roundtables: 1. Managing Climate and Weather Risks for Peace River District Agriculture Grande Prairie Motor Inn, 11633 Clairmont Road Grande Prairie, Alberta February 6-7, 2007 Visit our website for a draft program Registration required by January 31, 2007 (no fee) Contact: Garth Mottershead (250-719-1412) mottersheadg@agr.gc.ca Brett Henschell (250-719-1413) henschelb@agr.gc.ca Ellen Wall (519 824 4120 ext 58480) ewall@uoguelph.ca 2. Managing Climate Risks for Natural Resources in Atlantic Canada A C-CIARN event focused on learning from stakeholders about climate change risk management for farming, forestry, coastal zones and water resources. Held in conjunction with the Climate, Weather and Risks Forecasting Working Group Meeting IV (Agriculture and Agri-food Canada) Crowne Plaza Hotel Moncton, New Brunswick March 14-15, 2007. For more details contact Ellen Wall (519 824 4120 ext 58480) ewall@uoguelph.ca Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is holding consultations to help develop the next generation of Agriculture and Agri-Food Policy. Use this opportunity to suggest climate change adaptation needs to be ‘mainstreamed’ into existing policy and programs. More information here 1. Multiple exposures and dynamic vulnerability: evidence from the grape industry in the Okanagan Valley, Canada. 2006. By S. Belliveau, B. Smit, and B. Bradshaw in Global Environmental Change, 16:364-378 2. Local initiatives and adaptation to climate change. 2006. By A.V.R. Blanco in Disasters, Volume 30, Number 1, pp. 140-147 3. Overcoming the barriers: mainstreaming climate change adaptation in developing countries This report, written by the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) and launched at COP12, reviews what progress has been made by developing country governments and donor agencies in mainstreaming climate adaptation into development planning. It examines barriers to further progress and provides recommendations on how these barriers can be overcome. Report available here Published quarterly by Blackwell beginning in March 2007, a new journal- Regulation & Governance- will seek to provide a forum for open and critical scholarly dialogue from different disciplines, using diverse methodologies, and from any area of regulation and governance. For further information about the journal, including submission instructions, please visit our website CICERO is now accepting applications for Researchers and consultants. They are accepting applications for research assistants, research fellows, senior research fellows, and research consultants. Part-time associate positions for university faculty are also available. We are looking to increase our staff in all three of our research programs:
More information available here 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. Rapid plant adaptation to climate change PNAS Online Early Edition | January 8, 2007 A field study of the flowering shifts of Brassica rapa (Chinese cabbage and relatives) in response to a multiyear drought highlights that natural adaptation to climate change can occur in just a few generations. Article #08379: "Rapid evolution of flowering time by an annual plant in response to a climate fluctuation" by Steven J. Franks, Sheina Sim, and Arthur E. Weis All for now, Ellen Wall (ewall@uoguelph.ca) Co-ordinator, C-CIARN Agriculture (Canadian Climate Impacts and Adaptation Research Network for Agriculture) Blackwood Hall (Room 202) University of Guelph. Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1 Phone: 519 824 4120 ext 58480 Fax: 519 763 4686 http://www.c-ciarn.uoguelph.ca |
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