Klimaatverandering: voedseltekorten door droogte

Brutal Droughts, Worsened By Global Warming, Threaten Food Production Around The World
Door Joe Romm, Climate Progress, 7 maart 2012

Severe drought (or Dust-Bowlification) “is the most pressing problem caused by climate change.” As I wrote in the journal Nature last year, “Feeding some 9 billion people by mid-century in the face of a rapidly worsening climate may well be the greatest challenge the human race has ever faced.”

[...] a major 2011 NOAA report concluded, human-caused climate change is already a major factor in more frequent Mediterranean droughts.

[...] A comprehensive 2011 study of drought, by Aiguo Dai of the National Center for Atmospheric Research [...] concluded:

All the four forms of the PDSI show widespread drying over Africa, East andSouth Asia, and other areas from 1950 to 2008, and most of this drying is due to recent warming. The global percentage of dry areas has increased by about 1.74% (of global land area) per decade from 1950 to 2008….

Thus, I believe that our main conclusion is robust that recent warming has caused widespread drying over land. And model predictions suggest that this drying is likely to become more severe in the coming decades.

A look at the headlines and ledes from just the last month make clear that drought is slamming the world right now:

• Drought Reduces Mexico’s Agricultural Production by 40%
• Farmers warn food prices could go up because of drought (UK)
• Argentina tries to combat a drier future
• Climate change made the drought worse, scientists say
  (San Antonio)
• After Portugal’s driest February in 80 years, farmers are praying for a miracle as drought ravages pastures and sparks forest fires, exacerbating the country’s economic crisis.

And last week I reposted this story, “Syria: Climate Change, Drought and Social Unrest.” [...]

Zie ook (deels later toegevoegd):

Dead Ahead: Less Rainfall For Drought-Sensitive Southern Hemisphere Regions?
National Science Foundation, 18 mei 2012

Bosbranden in Spanje door kurkdroge winter
ANP / Trouw, 9 maart 2012

Spaanse boeren hebben last van ergste droogte sinds 1940
AFP / Trouw, 11 maart 2012

Climate change ravaging Forest Service budget for wildfire mitigation, officials say
Door Troy Hooper, Real Vail, 7 maart 2012

We’ve Been Through Climate Changes Before: But Mostly Cold Ones And Mostly In Our Far Distant Past
Door Dr. Sarah Green, Skeptical Science / Climate Progress, 10 maart 2012

Drought, Flooding And ‘Multiple, Combined Outbreaks’ Of Pests Threaten To Reduce Asian Agricultural Output 50%
Climate Progress, 16 april 2012

James Hansen Is Correct About Catastrophic Projections For U.S. Drought If We Don’t Act Now
Door Joe Romm, Climate Progress, 23 mei 2012

Photo liesveld_80, flickr

Verder m'n blognotities:
Droogte in UK ergste in 124 jaar
Meer bosbranden en watersnood: klimaatverandering in actie
Droogte gaat grote delen van de wereld teisterenSpaanse weerdienst: grote droogte en 3 tot 6 graden warmer in 2100
Ground Zero van klimaatverandering: verwoestende droogte in Australië
Droogte: Amazonewoud van CO2-sink tot source