Transcript Global Warming - Regents Earth Science Mr. Paris Pace High School

The Relationship Between
the World’s Food Supply
and Global Warming
By: Christopher A. Nichol
Scope and Sequence
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What is Global Warming?
How Does Global Warming Effect Climate?
What is the current state of food
production and usage in the world today?
How does Food Production effect Global
Warming?
How does Global Warming effect Food
Production?
What are some real life examples of the
effects of global warming?
What do scientists predict for the future?
What is Global Warming?
Global Warming
is an increase in
the average
temperature of
Earth’s near
surface air and
oceans.
http://www.alternate-energy-sources.com/images/driedland2.jpg
What Causes Global Warming?
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cause_you_love_nc/cars.JPG
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“Greenhouse Gasses”
have shouldered much
of the blame for
climate change. They
include:
 Carbon Dioxide
 Methane
 Nitrous Oxide
Deforestation has also
contributed to climate
change.
Current Climate Trends
Global Temperatures
have risen 0.74°C
during the past
century.
World temperatures
could rise by
between 1.1 and
6.4 °C during the
21st century
(IPCC-2007).
http://www.actewagl.com.au/education/_lib/images/Sustainability/Sustaina
bility06%20-%20Global%20mean%20surface%20temp.jpg
Global Warming, El Niño and
Climate
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El Niño is a periodic disruption of the oceanatmosphere system in the Tropical Pacific.
El Niño effects weather and climate around the
globe.
Global Warming has been implicated is the
strengthening of El Niño .
http://upload.wikimedia
.org/wikipedia/commons
/5/5a/El-nino.gif
Current Food Usage
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Maize, wheat and rice account for 43% of caloric
intake worldwide.
The American consumes 247 lbs. of meat yearly
while it is substantially less in developing
countries.
The world demand on our food resources is
steadily rising.
http://earthtrends.wri.org/features/view_feature.php?fid=7&theme=6
Resources Spent in Food
Production
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http://www.cast.uark.edu/local/catalog/national/html/SCSphase1.htmldir/SCS
_Farmland.html
Twenty-five percent of
the world's crop land
is used for animal
husbandry and 38%
of the world's
harvested grain (oats,
maize, barley,
soybean) is fed to
livestock.
11.3 billion acres are
used in food
production.
Current Food Production - Grains
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Maize, wheat and
rice account for 87%
of all grain
production.
Other grains include
sorghums, millets,
oats and rye.
Many grains are
provincial in their
production and
consumption.
http://allergyadvisor.com/Educational/images/CornAndOtherC
ereals.gif
http://home.nextra.sk/foodfarm/food021/f211.jpg
Agriculture and Carbon Dioxide
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The conversion of
wooded/forest
lands into
rangeland by
burning has
released 1.4 billion
tons of carbon
dioxide.
http://images.encarta.msn.com/xrefmedia/sharemed/targets/images/pho/t051/T05
1606A.jpg
Agriculture and Methane
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Cattle release 80 million
tons of methane per year,
and manure decomposition
adds 35 million tons per
year of methane to the
atmosphere.
Flooded rice fields are
significant source of
methane, particularly in
the developing countries of
Asia. Rice paddies thus
accounted for about 3 to 6
percent of the contribution
to global warming in the
1980s.
http://www.nlebasin.org/images/ActivitiesOnTheNile/images/Animal%20Husb
andry,%20Ethiopian_JPG.jpg
http://z.about.com/d/goasia/1/0/U/w/1/bali-ricepaddies-IstvanKoospal.jpg
Agriculture and Nitrous Oxide
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Agriculture introduces
nitrogenous
compounds to the
environment in the
form of commercial
fertilizers, legumes,
and crop residues.
The Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate
Change estimates that
up to 10 million metric
tons can be accounted
for from Agricultural
sources.
Atmospheric Concentration of
Nitrous Oxide
Source: Oxford Brookes University
http://www.craigsams.com/pages/martinradcliffe.html
Agriculture and Deforestation
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http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/02037/deforestation.htm
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Agriculture is a major
reason for
Deforestation. The
rainforest is most
often “cultivated” by
slash and burn. Forest
is cleared, the cuttings
are burned, and crops
are planted.
This land only remains
arable for a few years.
Global Warming Effects on Arable
Land Area
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Predicted increases
of rainfall in the
tropics; possible
decreased rainfall
in the subtropics
and the expansion
of the present
deserts put our
world’s farmland in
danger.
Source: Global 2000
Sea Level Rise and Farmland
Reduction
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The eventual sealevel rise and
subsequent
deeper and longer
inundation in river
and estuary basins
will reduce land
area that can be
cultivated.
Florida area with a sea-level rise of 17 ft, estimated
to occur if Western Antarctic Ice Sheet collapsed.
http://itll.colorado.edu/ITLL/Templates/AntarcticResearch/Research/LESSON1/LESS
ON1.htm
Global Warming Effects on Soil
Fertility
• Climate Change could
reduce soil fertility by
shifting where the
climate is suitable for
growing. These new
area’s soils are not
nearly as suitable for
agriculture as the
current agricultural
areas.
http://www.ericacbarnett.com/1205map.jpg
• The predicted increased
of precipitation may
increase leaching and
reduce fertility.
Global Warming, Drought and
Agriculture
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Changes in rainfall
patterns in the
semiarid regions of
the world make it very
susceptible to the
effects of Global
Warming.
These semiarid
regions are the
current “bread
baskets” of the world.
http://www.lib.utah.edu/gould/2002/lecture.html
Possible Global Warming Effects
on Crop Productivity
Possible Positive
Effects
 Regionally longer
growing seasons
 Reduction of cold
temperature
effects
 Increased
photosynthesis
Possible Negative
Effects
 Higher
Temperatures
accelerate crop’s
through their
development
 Decreased water
availability
 Poor vernaliation
FAO Scientific Findings
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Wheat lacks the ability to adapt and has a
decreases yield when exposed to an
increase of carbon dioxide and
temperature. Other staple crops fare
better.
In every case studied climate change
alone simulations reduced crop
productivity.
This effect can be reduced and in some
regions productivity rises with intense
irrigation and fertilization.
Global Warming Effects on
Livestock
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A major concern is
the increase of
vector borne
pathogens
increasing the
spread of disease.
If water supply is
decreased over
grazing can reduce
range land and
increase erosion.
http://www.ramsar.org/pictures/algeria-hodna2.jpg
Case Study: The African Famine
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http://www.liv.ac.uk/~sdb/Safari-2005/Images/1344-el-nino.jpg
A stronger El Niño
(linked to Global
Warming) has been
blamed for the
drought of 1984-1985
in the Sahel region of
Africa.
At least 0.5 million
people died from the
effects of hunger and
malnutrition.
Case Study: The Brazilian Drought
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In the early 1990s,
five years without rain
(blamed on El Niño)
led to severe famine
in the northeastern
Brazilian state of
Ceara.
More than 2 million
people fled this area
of Brazil for the
coastal cities.
There was much civil
unrest including
looting and riots.
http://www.nytimes.com/specials/salgado/home/drought.html
Predictions for the Future
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Studies show that Global Warming will not
effect over-all world agriculture as severely as
they first believed.
The low latitudes will suffer the most negative
impact while the higher latitudes should
experience an increase in productivity.
The range of current crops will move
northward.
New crop varieties may need to be selected.
To maintain productivity irrigation and
fertilization may need to be utilized.
Works Cited
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Barney, Gerald O., Jane Blewett, and Kristen Barney.
United States. Millenium Institute. Global 2000 Revisited:
What Shall We Do? 1993. 25 June 2007
<http://www.millenniuminstitute.net/publications/G2R.html
>.
Barney, Gerald O. United States. The Global 2000 Report to
the President of the US: Entering the 21st Century. 23 May
1980. 25 June 2007.
Eckhoff, David W. "Drought Happens: Get Used to It!"
University of Utah. University of Utah Marriott Library, Utah.
20 Sept. 2002. 25 June 2007
<http://www.lib.utah.edu/gould/2002/lecture.html>.
"FAO: Fact File." Some Effects of Global Warming on
Agriculture. 1997. United Nations. 25 June 2007
<http://www.fao.org/NEWS/FACTFILE/FF9721-E.HTM>.
Works Cited
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Hillel, Daniel, and Rosenzweig Cynthia. United States. US
Global Change Research Office. Potential Impacts of
Climate Change on Agriculture and Food Supply. 1995. 25
June 2007 <Potential Impacts of Climate Change on
Agriculture and Food Supply>.
Lang, Anton. "Physiology of Flowering." Annual Review of
Plant Physiology 3 (1952): 265-306. Abstract. Annual
Reviews: 03-06.
McKinney, Michael, Robert M. Schoch, and Logan Yonavjak.
Environmental Science, Systems and Solutions. 4th ed.
Jones & Bartlett, 2007. 1-642.
Mock, Gregory. "How Much Do We Consume?" World
Resources (2002). 25 June 2007
<http://earthtrends.wri.org/features/view_feature.php?fid
=7&theme=6>.
Works Cited
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Park, Julian, John Finn, and Richard Cooke. Challenges in Farm
Management. University of Reading. Reading, England: School of
Agriculture, Policy and Development, 2005. 25 June 2007
<http://www.ecifm.rdg.ac.uk/>.
Peyser, Quinn, and Steven Anderson, eds. Exploring Africa!
Michigan State University. Michigan State University. 25 June
2007 <http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/>.
Sombroek, Wim, and Bazzaz Fakhri, eds. Global Climate Change
and Agricultural Production. Direct and Indirect Effects of
Changing Hydrological, Pedological and Plant Physiological
Processes. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations. Rome: John Wiley & Sons, 1996. 25 June 2007
<http://www.fao.org/docrep/W5183E/W5183E00.htm>.
"Terra: Brazil's Landless Movements." NY Times 1983. 25 June
2007
<http://www.nytimes.com/specials/salgado/home/about.html>.
Works Cited
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United Nations. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change. Global Warming: Early Warning Signs.
<http://www.climatehotmap.org/index.html>.
United States. National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration. U.S. Department of Commerce. NOAA El
Nino Page. 25 June 2007. 25 June 2007
<http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/>.
United States. U.S. Office of Technology Assessment.
Changing by Degrees: Steps to Reduce Greenhouse Gases.
1991. 25 June 2007
<http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/004-132/004132.html>.
Wheeler, Catherine. "Estimating the Impact of Global
Warming on Agriculture." The International Development
Research Centre Reports (1998). 25 June 2007
<http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-5544-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html>.