Draft One: Agricultural Implications of Climate Change

This topic submitted by Christina Chebo and Bradley Martin ( Shining9@aol.com, bhigginsmartin@ya ) on 1/23/02 .

Mounting scientific data in a variety of fields has indicated that there are numerous unforeseen climatic variations occurring everywhere from the EarthÕs atmosphere, to the surface, and into the Oceans. Global warming, increased soil and water toxicity, and loss of biodiversity can have devastating effects on the natural environment and on human health.
Humankind has always relied on the Earth for subsistence and nourishment. The impending dramatic variation in the climate, be it warmer global temperatures or an increase in extreme regional weather conditions, will create new and complicated problems for agriculture in societies throughout the globe. Regional temperature change will completely devastate the potential for crops in some parts of the world and allow certain areas (like Canada) to engage in unheard of agricultural practices.
It is our intention to examine the inequalities between developed and undeveloped nations as their food supply would be affected by climatic changes. Various economic, technological, and social factors contribute to a nationsÕ food supply. We contend that the current inequalities would be drastically increased as the WorldÕs developed nations continue to force agricultural practices on undeveloped countries. As we hope to reveal, this creates a spiral effect that has already contributed to climatic changes, i.e. pesticide use.
For the focus of our research, we intend to examine current and potential future agricultural practices in the United States and developing Asian countries (with an emphasis on China due to their enormous populations).

Couzin, Jennifer. ÒLandscape Changes Make Regional Climate Run Hot and Cold.Ó Science, Volume 283 (September 1999), n.p.

Daily, Gretchen C. and Paul R. Ehrlich. ÒAn exploratory Model of the Impact of Rapid Climate Change on the World Food Situation.Ó Proceedings: Biological Sciences, Volume 231, Issue 1302 (September 1990), 232-244.

Jones, J.W. and J.W. Hansen, F.S. Royce, C.D. Messina. ÒPotential Benefits of Climate Forecasting to Agriculture.Ó Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, Volume 82 (2000), 169-184.

Luo, Qunying and Erda Lin. ÒAgricultural Vulnerability and Adaptation in Developing Countries: The Asia-Pacific Region.Ó Climatic Change, Volume 43
(1999), 729-743.

N.A. ÒClimate Change Linked to Cultural Evolution.Ó Environmental News Network, 1999.

Ruttan, Vernon W. ÒThe Transition to Agricultural Sustainability.Ó Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Volume 96, Issue 11 5960-5967.

Smit, Barry and Cai Yunlong. ÒClimate Change and Agriculture in China.Ó Global Environmental Change, Volume 6 (1996), 205-214.

Tilman, David. ÒGlobal Environmental Impacts of Agricultural Expansion: The Need for Sustainable and Efficient Practices.Ó Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Volume 96, Issue 11 (May 25, 1999), 5995-6000.

1. http://globalchange.gov
This site has lots of satellite images on climate patterns and
information from the US Global Change Research Program.

2. http://globalchange.org
This site is a collection of monthly electronic journal articles on
climate change.

3. http://www.fda.com
This site features past and recent press releases on climate change and
agricultural impacts in the US.

4. http://www.un.org
I found press releases from both the Un Intergovernmental Panel on
climate change and the Commission on Sustainable Development relating to
international agricultural impact of climate change.

5.http.gcmd.gsfc.nasa.gov
This site had statistics on regional soil composition, crop rotation
practices, agrochemicals, aquaculture, agro-forestry, and plant
commodities.

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