GLOBAL temperatures could rise 4 degrees in the next 50 years - faster than previously predicted - if greenhouse gas emissions increase unchecked, according to a report for the British Government.

The climate science update, prepared by British Met Office scientists, found that the increase this century could top 15 degrees above pre-industrial levels in the Arctic and be up to 10 degrees for parts of Africa.

In Australia, rainfall is projected to decline by at least one-fifth along parts of the coastline, worsening drought.

The Met Office Hadley Centre’s head of climate impacts, Richard Betts, said the most severe scenarios outlined in the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report now looked conservative.

Pleaseread more on http://fw.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/general/climate-update-points-to-2060-nightmare-rise/1635657.aspx?src=enews

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Posted: 30 September 2009 under Agribusiness worldwide, Global cooling.
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By carefully selecting which varieties of food crops to cultivate, much of Europe and North America could be cooled by up to 1°C during the summer growing season, say researchers from the University of Bristol. This is equivalent to an annual global cooling of over 0.1°C, almost 20% of the total global temperature increase since the Industrial Revolution.

The growing of crops already produces a cooling of the climate because they reflect more sunlight back into space, compared with natural vegetation. Different varieties of the same crop vary significantly in their solar reflectivity (called ‘albedo’), so selecting varieties that are more reflective will enhance this cooling effect. Since arable agriculture is a global industry, such cooling could be extensive.

To read more please go on http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2009/6091.html

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Posted: 20 July 2009 under Global cooling.
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