4 ms·

> its not like we're getting 2012 US Midwest levels of drought in back-to-back years (now THAT would be a crunch). I got a shiver down my spine just reading th

> its not like we're getting 2012 US Midwest levels of drought in back-to-back years (now THAT would be a crunch). I got a shiver down my spine just reading that sentence. Please do not tempt fate. We just had the hottest year on record. I expect we'll break that record in the next few years again. Drought is depressingly likely.

lm28469 4y ago
Didn't China predict they'll have their lowest crops yields in modern history ? I can't find the article I remember reading but here is one: https://www.reuters.com/business/china-ensure-agricultural-product-supplies-including-grains-2022-03-05/ https://www.reuters.com/business/china-ensure-agricultural-p... and another: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-23/climate-change-threatens-china-s-crop-yield-food-security https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-23/climate-c... Looks like everything is aligning for a pretty bad 2022 and 2023
kickout 4y ago
Will likely happen in our lifetime. I'm positive of it. not a damn thing we can do either. If it doesn't rain, no 'genome edited drought resistance' will matter. Crops need water period (be nice if they needed _less_ water though)
- radford-neal 4y ago
  "be nice if they needed _less_ water though" Fortunately, they do. Higher atmospheric CO2 levels mean that plants can obtain the CO2 they need more easily, with the stomata in their leaves not having to open as much. Consequently, they loose less water through the stomata, and are more drought resistant. Of course, this only helps to a certain extent. A bad enough drought will still be very bad. And a very bad drought is bound to happen sooner or later, just from natural variability. So a robust food supply system, incorporating both a degree of local self-sufficiency in inputs, and global trade (for when crops fail in one location) is essential.
zardo 4y ago
The only thing worse than a drought year, is another 'Great Flood' year. When an atmospheric river turns the central valley into a lake.

lm28469 4y ago

Didn't China predict they'll have their lowest crops yields in modern history ? I can't find the article I remember reading but here is one: https://www.reuters.com/business/china-ensure-agricultural-product-supplies-including-grains-2022-03-05/ https://www.reuters.com/business/china-ensure-agricultural-p... and another: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-23/climate-change-threatens-china-s-crop-yield-food-security https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-23/climate-c... Looks like everything is aligning for a pretty bad 2022 and 2023

kickout 4y ago

Will likely happen in our lifetime. I'm positive of it. not a damn thing we can do either. If it doesn't rain, no 'genome edited drought resistance' will matter. Crops need water period (be nice if they needed _less_ water though)

radford-neal 4y ago
"be nice if they needed _less_ water though" Fortunately, they do. Higher atmospheric CO2 levels mean that plants can obtain the CO2 they need more easily, with the stomata in their leaves not having to open as much. Consequently, they loose less water through the stomata, and are more drought resistant. Of course, this only helps to a certain extent. A bad enough drought will still be very bad. And a very bad drought is bound to happen sooner or later, just from natural variability. So a robust food supply system, incorporating both a degree of local self-sufficiency in inputs, and global trade (for when crops fail in one location) is essential.

zardo 4y ago

The only thing worse than a drought year, is another 'Great Flood' year. When an atmospheric river turns the central valley into a lake.