Agriculture is an important sector of the U.S. economy. The crops, livestock, and seafood produced in the United States contribute more than $300 billion to the economy each year. When food-service and other agriculture-related industries are included, the agricultural and food sectors contribute more than $750 billion to the gross domestic product. Agriculture and fisheries are highly dependent on the climate. Increases in temperature and carbon dioxide (CO2) can increase some crop yields in some places. But to realize these benefits, nutrient levels, soil moisture, water availability, and other conditions must also be met. Changes in the frequency and severity of droughts and floods could pose challenges for farmers and ranchers and threaten food safety.
source: https://climatechange.chicago.gov/climate-impacts/climate-impacts-agriculture-and-food-supply
Agriculture is a business of nature and man trying to manage it or rather controlling it on the name of science. If agriculture will be done by understanding and supporting nature's principals, I hope most of the problems solve.
More (human) labour intensive farming methods; which naturally leads to smaller plot sizes and potentially greater crop diversity. Larger monocrops are less resilient to change than smaller farming systems, and as they require extensive, high-investment methods, altering these in the face of climate/resource/ecological changes is very difficult. Smaller scale, more labour intensive and less capital dependent farms are more flexible in their approaches. Farms that rely less on mechanisation and economies of scale need to be more labour intensive and are thus generally smaller. The greater variety of management types also adds adaptive capacity as there will be more variations on crop regimes.
Tl;dr: extensive Mono-crops suffer from a lot of fragilities that can be overcome by smaller, more labour intensive farms, and whilst this has its own costs, they will be more resilient to climate shocks.
Maybe invest in natural methods of agriculture like KNF that give u a high yield whiteout the environmental@ damage.
Minimize the areas faced with severe loss of topsoil and degradation by promoting a soil conservation cultivation regime. Create a more balanced utilization of natural resources and systems by the farming and agricultural community to cover:
• Infrastructure (irrigation systems, strategic landscape planting, surface drainage planning, etc.)
• Soil conservation strategies – such as orchards integrated with ground cover crops in hilly areas
• Land enrichment – using compost and other organic substances.
Promote and support sustainable farming systems that are compatible with the conservation of the rural environment and the natural resources, in particular the landscape and rural features, water quality, air, soil, and biodiversity.
This is attached, a BOOK REVIEW devoted to the fundamental Water-Food Nexus in the Arid Region taking Tunisia as example. "National water security– Case study of an arid country, Tunisia, Ghislain de Marsily, Euro-Mediterranean Journal for Environmental Integration (2019) 4:11". The Previous French version of the book is available in chapters on:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356650449_Securite_Hydrique_de_la_Tunisie_Preface_Introduction https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356662490_Les_Problemes_de_l'Eau_dans_le_Monde
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356663902_Cinquante_ans_de_politiques_de_l'eau_1960-2010
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356665641_Le_Bilan_Hydrique_National
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356666107_Le_bilan_Hydrique_Integral_Eau_Bleue_Eau_Verte_et_Eau_Virtuelle
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356666288_La_gestion_de_la_demande_en_eau_et_les_ressources_non_conventionnelles
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356674959_Securite_Hydrique_de_la_Tunisie_les_questions_en_debat
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356678805_Securite_Hydrique_de_la_Tunisie_Conclusion_Postface
Abstract:
This is a short review of a book recently published by Springer entitled: National water security–Case study of an arid country, Tunisia; by Mustapha Besbes, Jamel Chahed, and Abdelkader Hamdane. It shows that around 40% of the water consumed in Tunisia is imported as virtual water, used in other countries to produce goods. Water security is thus strongly linked to food security, but includes protection of the resource from pollution, accidents, malicious acts, and anticipation of extreme hydrologic events. A detailed analysis is made of water consumed by agriculture for food production by both rain-fed and irrigated crops, from which a surprising conclusion can be drawn: the major part of Tunisian food production is provided by rain-fed agriculture. Therefore, optimizing the yield of rain-fed agriculture becomes a priority. Alternative water resources are also discussed, as well as water governance. Results can be integrated into the policy choices related to sustainable water management which should be made in the future in Tunisia, and other regions where water is scarce.
Keywords Water resources · Water demand · Water scarcity · Arid zone · Blue water · Green water · Virtual water · Food production · Irrigation
This paper, tries to answer the following question: is it possible to predict Water Resources only with GCMs, without downscaling, and what would be the resulting uncertainties? "Besbes M., Chahed J. "Predictability of water resources with global climate models. Case of Northern Tunisia", Published online: 12 June 2023, Les Comptes Rendus. Géoscience". Available on:
Article Predictability of water resources with global climate models...
Abstract: The objective of the research is to explore the predictability of water resources directly with GCMs by analysing long-term effects of climate change on Northern Tunisia’s blue and green water. Hydrologic impacts rely on a rainfall-runoff lumped model using outputs of CMIP6 GCMs within the framework of the ssp2-45 scenario. Among the 30 CMIP6 models, the composite cnrm-esm2-1 and fgoals-g3 best restore observed runoff from 1995 to 2014 and give the best GCM. Hydrologic projections 2015–2100 show significant drops in rainfall (9%), runoff (21%), groundwater recharge (15%), as well as for green water (6%). The results show that the use of raw GCMs predictions on large basins is possible and provides precisions comparable to what is produced when using Regional Climate Models in medium size basins.
Proteger a produção de alimentos em face das mudanças climáticas, aquecimento global e poluição é um desafio complexo que requer uma abordagem abrangente e multidisciplinar. Aqui estão algumas estratégias que podem ajudar a proteger a produção de alimentos:
1. **Agricultura Sustentável:** Promover práticas agrícolas sustentáveis, como rotação de culturas, cultivo de plantas de cobertura, agroflorestas e manejo integrado de pragas, pode melhorar a saúde do solo, reduzir a dependência de produtos químicos e aumentar a resiliência das culturas.
2. **Agricultura de Conservação:** Implementar técnicas de agricultura de conservação, como plantio direto e cultivo mínimo, ajuda a preservar a estrutura do solo, reduzir a erosão e melhorar a retenção de água.
3. **Variedades de Culturas Resilientes:** Desenvolver e utilizar variedades de culturas adaptadas às mudanças climáticas é crucial. Isso pode envolver a seleção de plantas que sejam mais resistentes a condições extremas, como calor intenso, seca ou chuvas excessivas.
4. **Irrigação Eficiente:** Investir em sistemas de irrigação eficientes, como gotejamento e irrigação por aspersão, ajuda a conservar a água, que é um recurso cada vez mais escasso.
5. **Diversificação de Culturas:** Cultivar uma variedade de culturas em uma região pode reduzir o risco de perda total devido a condições climáticas adversas que afetam uma única cultura.
6. **Tecnologia e Monitoramento:** Utilizar tecnologias de monitoramento remoto, como sensores e satélites, pode fornecer informações em tempo real sobre as condições das plantações, permitindo respostas mais rápidas a ameaças climáticas.
7. **Armazenamento Adequado:** Desenvolver infraestrutura de armazenamento apropriada e tecnologias de pós-colheita pode reduzir as perdas de alimentos após a colheita, garantindo um suprimento estável de alimentos.
8. **Práticas de Gerenciamento de Água:** Adotar práticas sustentáveis de gestão de água, como a coleta e armazenamento de água da chuva, pode ajudar a enfrentar períodos de seca.
9. **Educação e Capacitação:** Fornecer treinamento e educação aos agricultores sobre práticas agrícolas sustentáveis e adaptativas pode melhorar a resiliência das comunidades agrícolas.
10. **Políticas e Regulamentações:** Governos podem desempenhar um papel fundamental na proteção da produção de alimentos através da implementação de políticas que incentivem a agricultura sustentável, protejam os recursos naturais e promovam a segurança alimentar.
11. **Redução da Poluição e Emissões:** Reduzir a poluição do ar e a emissão de gases de efeito estufa não apenas combate o aquecimento global, mas também melhora a qualidade do ar e a saúde das plantas.
12. **Conservação da Biodiversidade:** Preservar ecossistemas naturais e a diversidade genética das plantas cultivadas pode fornecer recursos valiosos para a adaptação futura.
É importante notar que as estratégias para proteger a produção de alimentos podem variar de acordo com a região, o tipo de cultura e as condições climáticas locais. Abordagens integradas, que consideram os aspectos sociais, econômicos e ambientais, são essenciais para enfrentar esse desafio complexo.
Iceland volcano erupts on Reykjanes peninsula (BBC, 4 hours ago). Volcanic eruptions, always Fascinating in Beauty and Majesty, remind us in a spectacular way of essential factors in the heat balance of the globe: the transfers at the Visible Lithosphere-Atmosphere Interface in the form of Seismic and Volcanic Activities and the transfers at the Lithosphere-Hydrosphere interface, Invisible because they occur at the bottom of the oceans. Unlike the GHE, the effects of these activities on Climate Change are not well analyzed, at least in Climate Models, including those used in IPCC projections.
Illustration Source: ICELANDIC MET OFFICE:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67756413
See Also:
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Adaptation_and_Resilience_to_Climate_Change_Temporal_Paradox_versus_Chronology_Protection_Conjecture
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Climate_Change_and_Climate_Models_Progress_and_LimitsArticle Predictability of water resources with global climate models...
In these festive days, I would like to mention this 30 year old Paper, "Joy A. Palmer (1993) From Santa Claus to sustainability: emerging understanding of concepts and issues in environmental science, International Journal of Science Education, 15:5 , 487-495", in which the author discusses the nature and development of children's early knowledge and awareness of environmental issues. as strange as it may seem, we learn that "pre‐school children may well have a strong base of accurate scientific knowledge upon which early years environmental teaching may build." Happy Holidays For All
See Also:
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Adaptation_and_Resilience_to_Climate_Change_Temporal_Paradox_versus_Chronology_Protection_Conjecture
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