The Climate of Crops
INTRODUCTION
In the second unit of Food For Thought (Death), we learned about things that have and can lead to the decline of crops. For example, the Irish Potato Famine was caused by a fungal potato infection that wiped out the entire crop. The reason the potato crop had little chance of surviving was because it was a monoculture - a prolonged crop of one specific species of plant. For this action project, I was given a choice of a threat to write about that could affect our global food system. I chose to write about climate change, which, unfortunately, has become a source of many problems across several subjects. Not just from the present, but from the past, as well. Over the course of history, climate change has affected crops. Learn how, over time, natural disasters, such as droughts, rising air temperatures, and flooding, have ruined the agriculture of food.
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Look out…your food has stopped growing. Cherry trees have been suffering from blooming either too early or too late (Samenow). Every year, they are at higher risk of not blooming at all. This has to do with extreme shifts in the climate, tricking the cherry trees into thinking it is either a very early, or very late, spring. This phenomena is not only happening to cherry trees, unfortunately. It is happening to your food. Imagine what would happen with the world and it’s economy if crops did not grow. Economically, the global food market is collapsing in the wake of climate change.
Most of the produce you find in your local grocery store comes from California, however, agriculture in this state is being deeply affected by climate change. Various climate trends like precipitation, temperature, droughts, extreme weather conditions, and heavy amounts of snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains have been occurring over this past century. These tragedies have been affecting the growth rate of California’s agricultural produce every year. I know this sounds scary, but the fruit that is most affected by climate change is our beloved avocado! By 2080, the avocado’s growth rate will be -40% of what it is today (Nosowitz). Climate isn’t just affecting avocados, however. It is affecting vegetables, grains, nuts, and even fruits. Much to my parents’ dismay, even wine grapes are feeling the impact of climate change. Sorry California, but it looks like your famous wine sipping tours will come to an end!
Our crops have suffered from climate change before. Throughout history, many civilizations’ crops have suffered from climate change - one of them being France. "Starting in 1788 and continuing until 1796, a succession of El Nino events pounded the world's agriculture, disrupting it to a degree unseen in a thousand years" (Fraser and Rimas). France’s crop struggles began with the Summer drought of 1787. Then, when Spring arrived a bit too late, a heavy wet season ruined most of the harvest in 1788. This is all thanks to the El Nino phenomenon - a climate cycle in the Pacific Ocean with a global impact on weather patterns. El Nino is a term that refers to the large-scale ocean-atmosphere climate interaction linked to a periodic warming in sea surface temperatures across the central and east-central Equatorial Pacific (“What is El Nino?”). El Nino can influence weather patterns, ocean conditions, and marine life across large portions of the globe for a long period of time. Wetter-than-average conditions occur over portions of the U.S. Gulf Coast, while drier-than-average conditions occur in the Ohio Valley and the Pacific Northwest. In France, the Summer drought collapsed wine sales, dragging down it’s economy. People raided bakeries and rioted over the price of bread (Fraser and Rimas). Even though the weather was to blame, starving mobs of people can’t take vengeance on Mother Nature. Although it did not cause the French Revolution, some say the effects of the drought certainly contributed to it.
Although they did not have a solution for their situation at the time, many later generations of people learned from France's experience. Extreme historic climate events have helped agriculturists develop new ways to avoid future crop catastrophes. For example, growing a wide variety of crops in a given region lessens the risk all crops will be wiped out by a severe drought or wet season (Worland). This method of farming is known as a polyculture - agriculture using multiple crops in the same space, avoiding large areas of single crops (monoculture). Different crops depend on different nutrients and water amounts. Diversifying crops helps ensure that SOMETHING will be available during stressful times. Historical weather events, such as France’s summer drought of 1787, have provided us with important information on how climate affects crops. As awful as it must have been to live through, there is always some good that comes out of something bad.
We are all stronger than the enemy when we are in greater numbers. That is why my first recommendation is to have polyculture crops. One species itself is easy to target, like what happened to the monoculture crop in the Irish Potato Famine. Many species can not only be less vulnerable, but they can also support each other with nutritional values. It will be hard to manage a lot of species at once, so my second recommendation is to never grow your crops alone. Having many people by your side can help accomplish harder tasks faster than expected. Even if your crops are being struck by climate change, there will be more people to spread the word. Additionally, my other recommendation is to grow the top few produces most people want. That way, you can earn more money to buy more food for yourself and your crops. Lastly, and most importantly, we need to do everything we can to reduce our carbon footprint to help slow, maybe even reverse, the effects of climate change. The future of the planet, people, and crops all depend on how mindful we are with our resources.
Our food is sensitive to the climate - plain and simple. Although warmth helps create long and plentiful growing seasons, too much heat can harm an entire crop (Clark). Climate change is affecting the quality of agriculture. Farmers are experiencing increasing damage to their crops. Ensuring Environmental Sustainability (Millennium Development Goal), can only be achieved if we are working together to either: A) combat climate change, or B) implement farming techniques that will withstand extreme weather conditions. Reducing our carbon footprint and conserving natural resources is the most important thing we can do to slow or prevent extreme climate events. In the meantime, it is important for farmers to adjust their agricultural methods to withstand extreme weather. We would be ignorant not to pay attention to history. That being said, how will you move forward with this information? Will you become a part of the problem, or a part of the solution? The future of your food depends on it.
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CITATIONS
Clark, Duncan. “How Will Climate Change Affect Food Production?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 19 Sept. 2012, www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/sep/19/climate-change-affect-food-production.
Fraser, Evan D. G., and Andrew Rimas. Empires of Food: Feast, Famine and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations. Arrow Books, 2011.
Nosowitz, Dan. “New Study Details How Climate Change Will Affect California Agriculture.” Modern Farmer, Modern Farmer, 4 Mar. 2018, modernfarmer.com/2018/03/new-study-details-climate-change-will-affect-california-agriculture/.
Samenow, Jason. “Analysis | Japan's Cherry Blossoms Signal Warmest Climate in More than 1,000 Years.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 4 Apr. 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/04/04/japans-cherry-blossoms-signal-warmest-climate-in-over-1000-years/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a48029897bdb.
“What Is El Nino?” Live Science, 20 Aug. 2015, www.livescience.com/3650-el-nino.html.
Worland, Justin. “Drought and Extreme Heat Are Killing the World's Crops.” Time, Time, 6 Jan. 2016, time.com/4170029/crop-production-extreme-heat-climate-change/.
In the second unit of Food For Thought (Death), we learned about things that have and can lead to the decline of crops. For example, the Irish Potato Famine was caused by a fungal potato infection that wiped out the entire crop. The reason the potato crop had little chance of surviving was because it was a monoculture - a prolonged crop of one specific species of plant. For this action project, I was given a choice of a threat to write about that could affect our global food system. I chose to write about climate change, which, unfortunately, has become a source of many problems across several subjects. Not just from the present, but from the past, as well. Over the course of history, climate change has affected crops. Learn how, over time, natural disasters, such as droughts, rising air temperatures, and flooding, have ruined the agriculture of food.
——————
Look out…your food has stopped growing. Cherry trees have been suffering from blooming either too early or too late (Samenow). Every year, they are at higher risk of not blooming at all. This has to do with extreme shifts in the climate, tricking the cherry trees into thinking it is either a very early, or very late, spring. This phenomena is not only happening to cherry trees, unfortunately. It is happening to your food. Imagine what would happen with the world and it’s economy if crops did not grow. Economically, the global food market is collapsing in the wake of climate change.
Most of the produce you find in your local grocery store comes from California, however, agriculture in this state is being deeply affected by climate change. Various climate trends like precipitation, temperature, droughts, extreme weather conditions, and heavy amounts of snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains have been occurring over this past century. These tragedies have been affecting the growth rate of California’s agricultural produce every year. I know this sounds scary, but the fruit that is most affected by climate change is our beloved avocado! By 2080, the avocado’s growth rate will be -40% of what it is today (Nosowitz). Climate isn’t just affecting avocados, however. It is affecting vegetables, grains, nuts, and even fruits. Much to my parents’ dismay, even wine grapes are feeling the impact of climate change. Sorry California, but it looks like your famous wine sipping tours will come to an end!
Our crops have suffered from climate change before. Throughout history, many civilizations’ crops have suffered from climate change - one of them being France. "Starting in 1788 and continuing until 1796, a succession of El Nino events pounded the world's agriculture, disrupting it to a degree unseen in a thousand years" (Fraser and Rimas). France’s crop struggles began with the Summer drought of 1787. Then, when Spring arrived a bit too late, a heavy wet season ruined most of the harvest in 1788. This is all thanks to the El Nino phenomenon - a climate cycle in the Pacific Ocean with a global impact on weather patterns. El Nino is a term that refers to the large-scale ocean-atmosphere climate interaction linked to a periodic warming in sea surface temperatures across the central and east-central Equatorial Pacific (“What is El Nino?”). El Nino can influence weather patterns, ocean conditions, and marine life across large portions of the globe for a long period of time. Wetter-than-average conditions occur over portions of the U.S. Gulf Coast, while drier-than-average conditions occur in the Ohio Valley and the Pacific Northwest. In France, the Summer drought collapsed wine sales, dragging down it’s economy. People raided bakeries and rioted over the price of bread (Fraser and Rimas). Even though the weather was to blame, starving mobs of people can’t take vengeance on Mother Nature. Although it did not cause the French Revolution, some say the effects of the drought certainly contributed to it.
Although they did not have a solution for their situation at the time, many later generations of people learned from France's experience. Extreme historic climate events have helped agriculturists develop new ways to avoid future crop catastrophes. For example, growing a wide variety of crops in a given region lessens the risk all crops will be wiped out by a severe drought or wet season (Worland). This method of farming is known as a polyculture - agriculture using multiple crops in the same space, avoiding large areas of single crops (monoculture). Different crops depend on different nutrients and water amounts. Diversifying crops helps ensure that SOMETHING will be available during stressful times. Historical weather events, such as France’s summer drought of 1787, have provided us with important information on how climate affects crops. As awful as it must have been to live through, there is always some good that comes out of something bad.
We are all stronger than the enemy when we are in greater numbers. That is why my first recommendation is to have polyculture crops. One species itself is easy to target, like what happened to the monoculture crop in the Irish Potato Famine. Many species can not only be less vulnerable, but they can also support each other with nutritional values. It will be hard to manage a lot of species at once, so my second recommendation is to never grow your crops alone. Having many people by your side can help accomplish harder tasks faster than expected. Even if your crops are being struck by climate change, there will be more people to spread the word. Additionally, my other recommendation is to grow the top few produces most people want. That way, you can earn more money to buy more food for yourself and your crops. Lastly, and most importantly, we need to do everything we can to reduce our carbon footprint to help slow, maybe even reverse, the effects of climate change. The future of the planet, people, and crops all depend on how mindful we are with our resources.
Our food is sensitive to the climate - plain and simple. Although warmth helps create long and plentiful growing seasons, too much heat can harm an entire crop (Clark). Climate change is affecting the quality of agriculture. Farmers are experiencing increasing damage to their crops. Ensuring Environmental Sustainability (Millennium Development Goal), can only be achieved if we are working together to either: A) combat climate change, or B) implement farming techniques that will withstand extreme weather conditions. Reducing our carbon footprint and conserving natural resources is the most important thing we can do to slow or prevent extreme climate events. In the meantime, it is important for farmers to adjust their agricultural methods to withstand extreme weather. We would be ignorant not to pay attention to history. That being said, how will you move forward with this information? Will you become a part of the problem, or a part of the solution? The future of your food depends on it.
⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺
CITATIONS
Clark, Duncan. “How Will Climate Change Affect Food Production?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 19 Sept. 2012, www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/sep/19/climate-change-affect-food-production.
Fraser, Evan D. G., and Andrew Rimas. Empires of Food: Feast, Famine and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations. Arrow Books, 2011.
Nosowitz, Dan. “New Study Details How Climate Change Will Affect California Agriculture.” Modern Farmer, Modern Farmer, 4 Mar. 2018, modernfarmer.com/2018/03/new-study-details-climate-change-will-affect-california-agriculture/.
Samenow, Jason. “Analysis | Japan's Cherry Blossoms Signal Warmest Climate in More than 1,000 Years.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 4 Apr. 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/04/04/japans-cherry-blossoms-signal-warmest-climate-in-over-1000-years/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a48029897bdb.
“What Is El Nino?” Live Science, 20 Aug. 2015, www.livescience.com/3650-el-nino.html.
Worland, Justin. “Drought and Extreme Heat Are Killing the World's Crops.” Time, Time, 6 Jan. 2016, time.com/4170029/crop-production-extreme-heat-climate-change/.
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