From colibri@west.net Tue May 16 15:22:03 2000 Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 07:34:30 -0700 From: Beth von Gunten To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Climate Change & US Ag: Impacts of Warming, Extreme Weather Events on Productivity, Plant Diseases, and Pests [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] EESI BRIEFINGS: Climate Change and U.S. Agriculture: The Impacts of Warming and Extreme Weather Events on Productivity, Plant Diseases, and Pests Thursday, May 25, 2000, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. 124 Senate Dirksen Office Building The Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, the Center for Climate Systems Research at Columbia University, Iowa State University, and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute invite you to a briefing on how climate change may affect U.S. agriculture. This briefing will coincide with the release of a report by the above three academic institutions entitled, "Climate Change and U.S. Agriculture: The Impacts of Warming and Extreme Weather Events on Productivity, Plant Diseases, and Pests." This is the first report to highlight the role of climate variability, pests and plant diseases in our nation's future agricultural productivity. The report's aim is to understand how warmer temperatures and an increase in extreme weather events (including spells of very high temperatures, torrential rains and flooding, and droughts), predicted under climate change projections, may affect : a) crop yields, b) outbreaks of plant diseases, pests, and weeds, and c) the economic costs of production. The briefing features the following topics and expert speakers: Overview and Moderator Dr. Eric Chivian, director, Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School; Climate Change, Warming and Extreme Weather Events Dr. David Rind, scientist, Center for Climate Systems Research, Columbia University; U.S. Agricultural Productivity and Climate Change Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig, senior scientist, Center for Climate Systems Research, Columbia University; The Effect of Climate Change on Plant Disease and Pests Dr. X.B. Yang, associate professor of Plant Pathology, Iowa State University Summing Up: Variability and Vulnerability Dr. Paul R. Epstein, associate director, Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School The following findings will be highlighted: ^Å Since the 1970s, the United States has experienced greater variability in crop yields, which are, in part, climate-related. ^Å Extreme weather events have caused severe crop damage in the United States over the past 20 years. ^Å Since the early 1970s, the ranges of several important U.S. crop pests have expanded and pest damage has increased, which may be partly the result of changing weather patterns. ^Å Climate change may reduce crop yields significantly in some U.S. agricultural regions, directly because of warmer temperatures and an increased incidence of extreme weather events, and indirectly, because of greater infestations by weeds, plant diseases, and pests. ^Å Climate change, with preferential warming at high latitudes, could shift the optimal production ranges for specific crops, thereby lessening the comparative advantage that the United States now enjoys in international agricultural markets. ^Å Greater climate variability will make U.S. agriculture increasingly unstable, and U.S. farmers may find that the past is a less reliable predictor of the future. The presentations will be followed by a question and answer session. Copies of the report's executive summary will be distributed and the full report will be available upon request. The report will also be posted on the Center for Health and the Global Environment's (CHGE) website: http://www.med.harvard.edu/chge. The briefing is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. For more information contact: Beth Bleil at EESI (202-662-1886 / bbleil@eesi.org) or Tracy Graham at CHGE (617-576-3830). To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@cals.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@cals.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail