Climate and Ag in the news
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One of the big questions in determining the impacts of changing climate on crops is the effect called “carbon dioxide fertilization”. In test plots under higher CO2 levels, some crops do better with more carbon dioxide, leading to higher yields. The key is that it depends…on crop, water availability, and temperature. Some crops like rain-fed…
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The Detroit Free Press published an article this week describing the impacts of heavy rainfall on watersheds where dairies are located. Many of these dairies apply their animal waste to the land to return nutrients to the soil and reduce waste going to landfills. However, when heavy rains hit, if the manure has not had…
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Two studies published this week highlight the impact that volcanic eruptions may have on climate, both on short (a few years) and long (millions of years) time scales. BBC posted an article on some recent research by Dutch scientists suggesting that an eruption of Mt. Chichon in Mexico in the 6th century can be linked…
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Creative Loafing, an Atlanta weekly newspaper, published a long story this week about the impacts of severe and extreme weather, like flash flooding and heat waves, on cities. In particular, vulnerable populations like the elderly, children, and lower socioeconomic class folk are especially likely to suffer from this weather, since they often live in areas…
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In a previous post I noted some of the areas of the world that were feeling the effect of El Niño in contributing to regional droughts. Today I highlight the impact of heavy rains (also affected by El Niño) that are hurting the harvest of crops around the world. According to AgWeb here, “Argentina, the top…
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The latest blog post from the State Climate office of North Carolina highlights a late snowstorm in April 1983 (also a spring following a strong El Niño) that caused immense damage to fruit crops around the state. You can read about it at https://climate.ncsu.edu/climateblog?id=187&h=5666e5c1.
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Andy Shirley of Mitchell County in southwest Georgia reported today on his blog that watermelon seedlings are having a hard time developing due to the presence of Pythium, a fungal pathogen that is affecting the roots. He says that they used to see more of it when seeds were directly sown, but now that they…