AGRICULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE.

EDITORIAL: NICOLAS KYNIGOS.

Environmental advisor: Civil Rights Party Of Canada

The overwhelming majority of scientists agree that our globe is undergoing major stress levels that are in (PEEK MODE) caused by climate change. They also agree that the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is rising significantly. What effect will climate change have on our society ? Our planet is warming up rapidly causing Arctic melt-down, severe flooding, massive forest fires, tree decay & beetle infestation, droughts and land mass erosion on a global scale. Global temperatures are on the rise yearly breaking all time records, a combination of excess greenhouse gases, solar flare activity,  natural & evolutionary factors are  contributing to climate change, we  need adjust quickly and further understand this new climatic phenomena bestowed on us in this 21^st century.

We need to unite globally in order to  understand effectively the direction humanity has to take. Our first priority protecting our rain forests, ultimately they protect us from harm full ultra-violet rays from the sun, provide us with nourishment  fresh oxygen, protect us from land erosion ,agricultural devastation, hurricanes, mud slides and floods. Our forests are the lungs of the earth, without them  our planet would be a giant desert with no water or life comparable to Mars. Our planet is reaching a critical breaking point with temperatures exceeding a 1.5 degree  F global warming increase

We can see from satellite images and research that the ice caps are melting faster, our sea levels are rising, and weather patterns are changing. We are experiencing more water shortages and contamination. In this up coming decade we will see more hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones increasing in ferocity and frequency. The deserts will expand caused by erosion and the world will ultimately have difficulty growing enough food on a global scale for human consumption, growth and demand. Without doubt, we have to change the way we live in order to survive as a species.

This question of climate change poses a considerable analytical and socio-economic problem for all Governments around the world.  We all have seen the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico, the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti and the record breaking heat-wave in the summer of 2010 consuming Russian forests and farmland.  Our eyes have been shocked viewing the aftermath of climatic devastation.  Mother nature is powerful, if this global warming trend continues to rise over the next decade, severe events will more than likely take place, surely this warming will increase in a ten-fold intensity outbreak .

Humanity is a coastal migrating species for pleasure, shelter, food and international trade. The world’s population (6.75 billion), the remaining 44% or 2.9 billion people live within a 150 kilometre (100 miles) off coastal regions around the world.  In 1955, an estimated 50 million people migrated to coastal zones in the United-States.  Mass migration to coastal regions will continue to increase for decades to come.  As the coastal population grows, along with climate change,  severe flooding caused by Arctic melt-down will  occur in the very near future. Global warming will be a major concern for all Governments around the globe, floods, mud slides, tsunamis, hurricanes, forest fires, land erosion, earthquakes, Arctic melting, human waste contamination and clean drinking water will affect  all coastal migration. Humanity has to adjust and repair, coastal wetlands, port development, road, highway, infrastructure, tourist resort and beach property restoration cause by man-made Co2 emission acidification, unpredictable climate  disorders  or sudden flood and earthquake devastation.

There are only a few scientists who claim our earth is going about business as usual. In dealing with global warming, we should at least adopt an approach based on the precautionary principle. "The precautionary principle states that if the potential consequences of an action are severe or irreversible, in the absence of full scientific certainty the burden of proof falls on those who would advocate taking the action."

Thousands of scientists from a hundred countries are working on the scientific aspects of climate change. They are not just proving this theory to be correct, but they are also advising on what action must be taken.

The earth has gone through many natural climatic cycles during its 4.5 billion year history. The scary part is, humanity is causing these changes to happen rapidly at an alarming rate, much faster than normal. Burning fossil fuels pouring out greenhouse gases like there is no tomorrow,-threatening all life on earth, provoking Global Warming, the Greenhouse Effect, or Climate Change, they are all affecting humanity right now!

The rate of climate change is so fast we are struggling to adapt our philosophies, economies, and lifestyles to slow  this carbon process down. We must alter the way we live or suffer staggering consequences, we must act now, all of us can make a difference

Agriculture and Climate Change

Global Geenhouse warming.com

“Agriculture is an essential component of societal well-being and it occupies 40 percent of the land surface, consumes 70 percent of global water resources and manages biodiversity at genetic, species and ecosystem levels. At every point of production, agriculture influences and is influenced by ecosystems, biodiversity, climate and the economy, including energy trade. Modern agriculture is a fossil fuel energy-intensive industry and its development is tightly linked to energy factors.

While the successes in agriculture production over the last half decade are heralded, the inequitable benefits and unsustainable impacts on natural resources are becoming more evident.

Undoubtedly, the acceleration of environmental degradation and climate change has direct effects on agricultural productivity and food security.”

The Challenge

There is no global challenge facing humanity that is more important than managing the earth’s environment to assure that it can sustain life in all its forms. The ecological balance on which current and future generations depend can only be preserved through food chains that balance energy and nutrient flows. The challenge is to balance the competing demands of different users of the same resources and of managing the resources to optimize the benefits to be derived on a sustainable basis.

Over the past 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable period of time in human history. Between 1960 and 2000, the demand for ecosystem services grew significantly as the world population doubled to 6 billion people and the global economy increased more than six fold. To meet these growing demands, food production increased by roughly two-and-a half times, water use doubled, wood harvests for pulp and paper production tripled and timber production increased by more than half.

Approximately 60 percent of our ecosystems are being degraded or used unsustainably, including: capture fisheries, water supply, waste treatment and detoxification, water purification, natural hazard protection, regulation of air quality, regulation of regional and local climate, regulation of erosion and aesthetic enjoyment. Degradation of ecosystems is likely to grow significantly worse over this century.

A series of recent assessments have indicated that the target of the World Food Summit to reduce the number of food insecure persons is not being met and that, despite the signing of major environmental agreements, carbon emissions continue to rise, species extinction is continuing and desertification continues to be of great concern in arid, semi-arid and sub-humid areas.

With an increasing global population and overall purchasing power, more food calories are required while the availability of the necessary biotic and abiotic (nonliving) production factors is shrinking: land is being converted to non-food production systems, water resources are scarcer, and climate change plus shrinking biodiversity are threatening the viability of farming in various settings.

Today it is clear that there is no choice but to produce more with less, while deploying every effort to minimize production factors’ risks. This means that environmental sustainability in agriculture is no longer an option but an imperative.

In the future, climate change is expected to accelerate many pressures on the wild environment, as long-established production systems become destabilised and a biotic stress (such as water shortages, salinity, aridity and heat) are increased, always in the light of a growing demand for food. Furthermore, the expected increase of biofuel and bioplastic feedstock monoculture production may lead to increased rates of genetic erosion. These changes pose great challenges because biodiversity is the raw material that breeders use to create the new crop varieties that will be needed to safeguard biodiversity for food and agriculture for future generations as well as maintaining a broad gene pool, which ensures ecosystem resilience."