3-6: Impact of Global Change on Agriculture

Pre-Class Preparation

Objectives

• To extend our understanding of how plants use water and carbon dioxide to explore the implications for global production of agricultural crops.
• To understand which regions gain and which regions lose in agricultural potential and what opportunities exist for adaptation to climate change.

Procedure

1. Read the learning unit.

   Class images

2. Take the learning unit quiz. Quizzes are available from your portfolio. You may access your portfolio via the list of students participating in this year's course, as represented by the icon below.
   
   
3. Additional Required Reading. Although you are not ultimately responsible for content listed in this section, we encourage you to fully explore the links in order to provide a better scope on the upcoming class discussion.

   	From MacKenzie, F. T. and MacKenzie, J.A., 1993: The Question of Sustainability. Our Changing Planet, Prentice Hall.
   	How researchers assess the implications of climate change for agriculture. (From UNEP.)
   	The impact of climate change on agriculture. (From UNEP.)
   	Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Agriculture and Food Supply. 1995: Rosenzweig and Hillel.
   	Sustainable Agriculture. (From the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, University of California-Davis.)
   	What is sustainable agriculture?

Class Discussion

• Problem to ponder...
  

• Class Discussion Summary:

Post-Class Activities

• Participate in the electronic dialog. Use this forum for:
  • continuing class discussion;
  • posing new questions to students or the instructor;
  • responding to issues/questions raised by students in class/electronic dialog.

  Visitor Access (Visitors are welcome to participate in the dialog. Just click on the icon below)	Student Access (Students must post all dialog from their portfolio. Click on the icon below to access the student list.)

• Recommended Reading Materials
  Johannsen, Chris J., 1994: Precision Farming: Farming by The Inch. The Earth Observer, 6(6), 7K.

  	CIESIN Thematic Guide: Impacts of Global Climate Change on Agriculture.
  	Dead Zone in Gulf of Mexico
  	Global Nitrogen Overload
  	Internet Dialog on International Food Security Issues.
  	Methane emissions from the disposal of livestock waste. (From UNEP.)
  	Positive Effects of Global Change for Agriculture
  	Reducing methane emissions from livestock farming. (From UNEP.)
  	Spatial Data in Geographic Information System Format on Agricultural Chemical Use, Land Use, and Cropping Practices in the United States.
  	Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, University of California-Davis
  	Vegetation Applications- Agriculture, Forestry and Ecology (From the Applied Information Sciences Branch, NASA)
  	Mackay, D. M., Smith, L. A. 1990: Agricultural Chemicals in Groundwater: Monitoring and Management in California. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 89, 253-255.
  	Parry, M.L., T.R. Carter, and N.T. Konjin, eds, 1988: The Impact of Climatic Variations on Agriculture: Volume 1: Assessments in Cool Temperate and Cold Regions, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 876 pp.
  	Pimentel, et al, 1995: Environmental and Economic Costs of Soil Erosion and Conservation Benefits, Science, 267, 1111-1237.

• References

  	Malakoff, David, 1998: Death by suffocation in the Gulf of Mexico. Science 281, 190-192.
  	Economic importance of agricluture, technical atlas, WFS. (To download Adobe Acrobat Reader, go to http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html).
  	Food import dependency, 1988-1990, technical atlas, WFS.
  	Food production growth, technical atlas, WFS.
  	Food production growth per person, technical atlas, WFS.
  	Global Environmental Change and Agriculture: Assessing the Impacts (Note: This link is currently being updated...)
  	Growth in cereal yields, 1963-65 to 1993-95, technical atlas, WFS.
  	Irrigated land, technical atlas, WFS.
  	Kaiser, H.M., Drennen, T.E. eds, 1993: Agricultural Dimensions of Global Climate Change, St. Lucie Press, 311 pp.