A video explaining the systemic interdepencies and promoting #Indian models for coping with it.
"Did you know that the #food we consume has a significant impact on climate change?
Our food production systems emit #GreenhouseGasEmissions [#GGE) just like #FossilFuels. But we don't talk enough about it. This is because] more than any other economic sector,...
...agriculture creates a divide between the world that emits for survival and the one that emits for luxury. As the world prepares itself to be climate-responsible, we need to reset the connection between food and livelihood, nutrition and nature."1)
"#SunitaNarain has been with the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) since 1982.
She is...
...currently the 👉director general of the Centre and the treasurer of the Society for Environmental Communications👈 and editor of the fortnightly magazine, #DownToEarth."2)
"#For her lifelong work, she was awarded the Padma Shri, one of the nation’s highest civilian honours, by the Government of #India.
...👉member of the [#Indian] Prime Minister’s Council for Climate Change👈 that decides on actions to address climate change impacts." 2)
COMMENT
I can agree in principle with all her tenets. I strongly doubt, however, that the many points she suggests as remedies will be nearly enough to bring #GlobalWarming back to the 1.5°C target (even adjusted for #Agriculture's impact,) as...
What is quintessential is a #SecondGreenRevolution, which, in my view, can only be achieved in many regions by adopting a raised-bed #agriculture based on...
"Labour #productivity could fall as low as 40 per cent in countries like India and Pakistan by the end of the century due to #ClimateChange, threatening global #FoodProduction, according to a study. The research, published in the journal Global Change Biology, predicts that other regions in Southeast and South Asia, West and Central Africa, and northern South America are expected to see physical work capacity reduced to 70 per cent. "
Current models likely under-estimate climate breakdown’s impacts on crop production. This means a lot of uncertainty and a very limited ability to anticipate future food crises.
"Maine last month became the first state to ban the practice of spreading PFAS-contaminated sewage sludge as fertilizer.
"But it’s largely on its own in the US, despite a recent report estimating about 20m acres of cropland across the country may be contaminated.
"Most states are only beginning to look at the problem and some are increasing the amount of sludge they spread on farm fields despite the substance being universally contaminated with PFAS and destroying livelihoods in Maine.
"'Maine is at the forefront of this because we’ve seen first-hand the damage that sludge causes to farms,' said Patrick MacRoy, deputy director of the non-profit Defend Our Health Maine. The new law also prohibits sludge from being composted with other organic material.
"PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of chemicals used across dozens of industries to make products resistant to water, stains and heat. Though the compounds are highly effective, they are also linked to #cancer, #KidneyDisease, #BirthDefects, decreased #immunity, #liver problems and a range of other serious diseases.
"Sewage sludge is a semi-solid mix of human excrement and industrial #waste that water treatment plants pull from the nation’s sewer system. It’s expensive to dispose of, and about 60% of it is now lightly treated and sold or given away as 'biosolid' fertilizer because it is high in plant nutrients.
"Maine and #Michigan are the only two states that are routinely checking sludge and farms for PFAS, and both are finding contamination on farms to be widespread.
"Maine’s legislature banned the practice of spreading sludge as fertilizer in April [2022] after environmental officials discovered astronomical levels of PFAS in water, crops, cattle and soil on farms where sludge had been spread, and high PFAS levels have been detected in farmers’ blood.
"#Contamination from PFAS-tainted sludge has already poisoned well water on around a dozen farms, and has forced several Maine farms to shutter. The state is investigating about 700 more fields where PFAS-contaminated sludge was spread in recent years. Farmers have told the Guardian that many of their peers with contaminated land won’t alert the state because they fear financial ruin.
"Maine also approved the creation of a $60m fund that will be used to help farmers cover medical monitoring, for buyouts and for other forms of financial assistance.
"'Folks have been left out to dry without any real help so we’re grateful to see that,' MacRoy said. The sludge legislation comes after Maine last year enacted the nation’s first ban on non-essential uses of PFAS in products. It goes into effect in 2030.
"In Michigan, environmental officials have downplayed the detection of PFAS in sludge and on farms, and although the state prohibits highly contaminated sludge from being spread, it allows higher levels of the chemicals in sludge than Maine. State regulators have also identified PFAS polluters and required them to stop discharging the chemicals into the sewers.
"Questions remain about whether that’s enough to keep PFAS out of Michigan’s food supply. Instead of implementing a wide-scale program to test livestock, crops and dairy, the state identified 13 farms it considered most at risk and has claimed contamination on other farms isn’t a risk.
"Michigan is ahead of most other states. In #Virginia, environmental regulators are considering permitting an additional 6,000 acres worth of sludge to be spread and have so far resisted public health advocates’ calls to test for PFAS and reject new sludge permits.
"In #Alabama, the state’s department of environmental management said in 2019 that 'the best use of biosolids is as a [fertilizer].'
"Even as the crisis unfolds in Maine, officials in Alabama are increasing the amount of out-of-state sludge that’s imported and spread on fields or landfilled, and the state in 2020 updated its biosolids rule to 'encourage' the use of #biosolids as fertilizer. Alabama does not test sludge for PFAS."
As deadly, unrelenting heat scorches Arizona, some entomologists are growing concerned about the increasing number of dead honeybees – a species vital to our #ecosystem, especially #FoodProduction.
By Jared Formanek, CNN
Published Aug 3, 2023 4:09 PM EDT
"'It’s a very major concern,' Shaku Nair, an entomologist with the University of Arizona, told CNN, 'Honeybees can forage up to 113 degrees. As of July, we’ve had many days over 113 degrees, so bees are taking a bad hit right now.'"
His proposal would redirect billions of dollars ($63bn) away from subsidies for commodity farms towards programs that support small farmers, climate-friendly agriculture and increasing healthy food access. #News#USA#foodproduction#AureFreePress
With our food systems on the verge of collapse, it’s the plutocrats v life on Earth
Climate breakdown and crop losses threaten our survival, but the ultra-rich find ever more creative ways to maintain the status quo
The new paper explores the impacts on crop production when meanders in the jet stream (Rossby waves) become stuck. Stuck patterns cause extreme weather.