Climate Change and food.....mmm...

[Barra Roantree]

As the world warms, the plants that billions of people depend on for their food are likely to become less nutritious. That's the worrying conclusion of an analysis of more than 40 studies investigating how crops will react to increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.....

Daniel Taub and colleagues at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, combined results from around two decades of such work. Their findings make disturbing reading. For wheat, barley, rice and potatoes, protein levels fell by 15 per cent when CO2 levels were high. The change happens in part because as plants incorporate more carbon they produce carbohydrate at the expense of protein.

Many people in rich nations get most of their protein from meat, but in around 30 poorer nations Taub estimates that people rely on the crops he studied for around half of their dietary protein. In Bangladesh, almost 80 per cent of people's protein comes from these crops.

The changes Taub found could have a dramatic impact on nutrition levels-but disaster can be averted. In some of the studies Taub looked at CO2 concentrations were over twice as high as today's, a level that more optimistic scenarios predict we should never reach. Even if levels do rise, better agricultural management could raise soil nitrogen levels, which would help the crops produce more protein, according to Arnold Bloom, a plant biologist at the University of California, Davis

http://environment.newscientist.com/cha ... LOJOEKEHMP

Just to keep the news flowing.

(not whole article Dave....selective quotes)

[ibis]

It's a good (and worrying) article. Unlikely, of course, to put even the smallest dent, though, in the red-meat brigade's claims that raised CO2 levels and warming are "better for crops".

[beardyboy]

We may be able to grow grapes and yams and citrus fruits and stuff - more global warming needed

Bloody snowed last night - let that stuff be a thing of the past

[ibis]

We may be able to grow grapes and yams and citrus fruits and stuff - more global warming needed

Bloody snowed last night - let that stuff be a thing of the past

Yup, there we go. Sure, who needs that nutrition stuff anyway?

[certain_people]

I loved the snow!! I built a snowman at home in Belfast, and had a snowball fight with my sisters, haven't done that for years! Made me feel like a little kid again!

On topic though, this subject doesn't require you to accept human caused global warming, just that there is an increase in atmospheric CO[size=7]2[/size] levels. And nobody disputes that. So global warming skeptics, even you can discuss this without fear.

[Barra Roantree]

Don't say that. They don't like logic.


And once again, these developments will hit the poor hardest, completely undermining the arguements of people like Bjørn Lomborg. ie that ignore climate change because we should focus on making people richer/healthier because its cheaper to mitigate this way.