Marie Dorline Desir
English 1121
Prof. Jenner
My topic for the annotated paper is: how does climate change affect agriculture?
According to NASA, I learned that since the late 19th century the planet’s surface temperature has risen 2.05 degrees.
Most of these climate changes have taken place in the last 40 years.
1.NASA recorded that 2016 was the warmest year recorded on record.
2.Data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment showed that Antartica lost about 148 billion tons of ice yearly.
3. In the last century, global sea levels rose 8 inches.
4. The ocean’s surface has become more acidic by about 30%.
5. Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere on earth.
What are some of the causes of global warming?
These changes are caused by increased carbon-dioxide and other human made gas emissions that are pouring into the earth’s atmosphere.
1.Global warming is caused by warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from earth towards space.
2. Gases from greenhouse gas emissions include water vapor, methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide.
3. Human activities are changing the natural greenhouse in the earth’s atmosphere.
4.Humans burn fossil fuels like coal and oil which increases the harmful gases in earth’s atmosphere.
Some of the consequences due to greenhouse gas emissions:
- The earth ‘s surface is become warmer.
2. Warmer conditions leads to greater amounts of precipitation.
3. Climate extremes such as droughts, flooding and extreme temperatures threaten our agricultural industry.
How does climate change effect agriculture?
- More crops will be destroyed.
2. The harvest season will be longer than usual.
3. Weeds, fungi, and pests will thrive in warmer temperatures and wetter climates.
4. Soil erosion will increase.
5. The land will lose its valuable nutrients and minerals.
6. New crop diseases will emerge effecting crop production.
What are some ways agriculture will adapt to climate change?
- Cost effective investments need to be put into place to develop sustainable farming.
- Resilient crop varieties need to be developed that tolerate extreme weather conditions.
3. New and improved farm equipment needs to be developed ( tractors will use solar or wind energy)
4. New field testing to track climate change needs to be set up across farms around the world.
5. Low cost-high effective irrigation systems need to be put into place.
A short paragraph on what I learned:
I learned that earth’s climate is changing. NASA is able to tell that climate is changing because the organization collects data and then studies the information that was collected. The reason earth’s climate is changing is because humans are creating unnatural conditions in the earth’s atmosphere. The agriculture industry is affected by greenhouse gas emissions. Farmers are noticing that the earth is heating up and floods are more common now. Extreme weather conditions are destroying crops because crops are sensitive to higher temperatures, drought, and freezing air temperatures during the growing season. Crop pests are also on the rise. According to one article I read, these pests have been known to damage various crops like soybean in Midwestern farms. To help prevent farms from shutting, I learned that new and updated technologies like new kinds of fertilizer, new seed varieties, and innovative farming practices should aid farm production.
Four questions I could use if I were to write a longer research paper.
- In what ways does climate change affect agriculture?
2. What are some of the causes of climate change?
3. How does climate change alter the way farmers farm their land?
4. What viable solutions are need to prevent the farming industry from collapsing in the future?
Links that look intersting:
- digital.commons.unl.edu
2. nasaharvest.org
3. newfarmers.usda.gov
4. landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov
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