Climate News Scan: January 24, 2011

Some highlights from this week's News Scan:

• Banks tell UN they don't know enough about climate change
• French agencies predict sufficient world food in 2050
• Winter temperatures play complex role in triggering spring budburst

Authors: Neil Thomson, Neil Salmond
Editors: Alison Shaw, James Tansey

The PICS News Scan is a weekly summary of the major climate-change related science, technology, and policy advances of direct relevance to B.C. government, business, and civil society and Canada at large. Originally posted here. Reposted with permission. 

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RESEARCH THEME I: THE LOW CARBON EMISSIONS ECONOMY

Banks tell UN they don't know enough about climate change

January 12, 2011.  More than half of respondents to a recent global survey of financial firms said the level of information they had today about climate change was not sufficient. The study, entitled Advancity adaptation through climate information service, covered more than 60 insurers, banks and asset managers including Aviva, Banco Santander, Deutsche Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ and Citigroup, and was carried out by the UN Environment Programme's (UNEP) Finance Initiative, sponsored by the German Ministry of Education and Research. Key findings of the study include that current availability of and access to climate change information remains insufficient, both in format as well as quality, and financial institutions require better information regarding the physical impacts of changing weather patterns.

The survey also flagged that insurers are already demanding additional risk transfer (to the insurer), amendments to insurance products and they are developing new insurance products, in response to the changing climate. According to UNEP FI, the survey identified gaps in the availability of information that can be closed by continued research to improve the reliability of climate modelling and forecasting, as well as enhanced translation of scientific knowledge and existing information into user-oriented information.

Such requirements are consistent for businesses through the world and indeed here in BC. Strengthened engagement between climate scientists and the business community will improve understanding of the effects of climate change and should help to activate market-based adaptation efforts.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE70B5CP20110112

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Research Theme II: Sustainable communities

French agencies predict sufficient world food in 2050 

January 12, 2011.  The world will be able to feed the predicted 2050 population of nine billion people, according to CIRAD and the French Institute for Agriculture Research. In their recent report, entitled Agrimonde, Asia scored more highly on productivity than in other studies because the agencies included yields of rice and other crops, not just wheat yields. The organizations also found that major reserves of potential farmland exist across the globe, especially in Africa and Latin America. One of the reports authors noted that the 1.5 billion hectares of land now cultivated could be increased to 4 billion, but this would of course be at the expense of pastures and forests, which are a reservoir of biodiversity and carbon.

The agriculture and food industry is a major contributor to the British Columbia economy, generating over $2 billion in revenue and employing over 200,000 people. BC’s top agricultural export destinations include the US, Japan, China, and South Korea. The BC Agriculture and Food Climate Action Initiative is working to provide advice for the industry on adapting to climate change, in particular to increased droughts, floods and pests. This adaptation work should be aligned with mitigation efforts to prevent the loss of important carbon sinks through an expanding agricultural sector.

http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110112/full/news.2011.14.html 

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Research Theme III: Resilient ecosystems

Winter temperatures play complex role in triggering spring budburst

January 11, 2011.  A report by the Pacific Northwest Research Station of the US Department of Agriculture has found that the timing of spring budburst in woody plants impacts not only the subsequent seasonal growth for individual trees, but also their associated biological community. As winter and spring temperatures have warmed under the changing climate, in many species budburst has been happening earlier in the year. Understanding the long-term effects of this shift and adapting forest management to accommodate it requires deeper insights into the dynamics of budburst. The same temperatures can have different effects depending on how often they occur. While some winter warming may hasten spring budburst, substantial periods of mid-winter warming, (as projected under several future climate scenarios) may actually delay, not promote, normal budburst.

While the impacts of climate change on BC’s standing forests are already very visible in terms of increased fire and pest risk, variations in winter temperature can be expected to have direct impacts on the associated growth responses of BC forests. Research on this topic over the last two decades has shown, for example, that climatic warming will reduce bud burst, shoot growth and cold hardiness in Douglas Fir.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-01-winter-temperatures-complex-role-triggering.html

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Research Theme IV: Social mobilization

Choosing organic milk could offset the effects of climate change

January 16, 2011.  A study on the fat composition of organic and non-organic milk has revealed surprising results related to climate change. The study by researchers from Newcastle University, UK, showed that wetter, cooler summers can have a detrimental effect on health implications of the milk we drink. Milk collected during a particularly poor UK summer and the following winter had significantly higher saturated fat content and far less beneficial fatty acids than in a more 'normal' year. The researchers showed that variation between brands of non-organic milk was high, but that the organic milk showed higher levels of nutritionally beneficial fatty acids regardless of the time of year or weather conditions. The authors note that if climate change predictions materialize, both forage and dairy management may have to adapt to maintain current milk quality. In the Fraser Valley, BC, climate change is likely to create wetter winters and drier, warmer summers, potentially affecting the quality of milk sourced in the Lower Mainland. The study details the potential difficulties of using non-organic milk and lends weight to the organic movement in BC as a potential climate change adaptation strategy that links climate, agriculture and human health. According to a report by the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, BC’s organic farming effort is increasing, and may form an important adaptation response by providing locally sourced food and dairy that is both healthier and relies less on international fuel prices and fluctuations for import.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110116214603.htm

Download pdf version: Week 70 PICS News Scan – 24 January 2011