{"id":846,"date":"2010-08-19T17:15:12","date_gmt":"2010-08-20T01:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calcanstaging.kinsta.cloud\/blog\/?p=87"},"modified":"2020-02-12T13:22:47","modified_gmt":"2020-02-12T21:22:47","slug":"spotlight-on-climate-agriculture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calclimateag.org\/es\/spotlight-on-climate-agriculture\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotlight on Climate & Agriculture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Agriculture has much to lose as the climate changes. Climate change is a serious threat to the business of growing food, and this should worry anyone that earns a living from the land (as well as everyone that eats). California farmers are already hurting, here and now, and agriculture is too important for us to stand by as things get worse.<\/p>\n

Every week there\u2019s something in the news about water scarcity in the Central Valley, freak late spring chills, new pests that threaten whole industries, old pests advancing on new territory.\u00a0While individual weather events are impossible to link to climate change directly, we do know that the weather is getting stranger and climate scientists say we\u2019re headed for more extreme weather events in the decades to come. Climate change will mean exactly that: change. Climate change means instability, and that\u2019s no good at all for pest management, irrigation planning, or planting decisions.<\/p>\n

Climate change means that California will get more rain than snow in the winter<\/a>, the Sierra Nevada snowpack will shrink, and therefore less water will be available in later months when we need it most. Climate change means that within our children\u2019s lifetimes, some crops \u2014 including many key perennials like avocadoes, nuts, grapes, and stone fruit \u2014 may become difficult or impossible to grow in some parts of the state as winter chilling hours are reduced. Higher overall temperatures and elevated carbon dioxide levels mean that weeds and insects will thrive and migrate north. More frequent extreme weather events like droughts<\/a> (pdf),\u00a0heat waves, late frosts, and flooding will likely affect all sectors of the industry.<\/p>\n

Agriculture has contributed its share to greenhouse gas emissions (on the global level, agriculture accounts for 13.5% of greenhouse gas emissions and here it California agriculture accounts for 6% of the state\u2019s emissions). But there is good news: California agriculture has a whole lot to contribute to climate change mitigation. There are real, concrete steps that can be taken right now that will both ensure the viability of agriculture moving forward and reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the long term. With the right kind of public support, California agriculture can actually be an important part of the solution.<\/p>\n

It is time to stand up, get creative, and support California\u2019s farmers in their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change.<\/p>\n

CalCAN is working to create incentives for all kinds of climate-friendly farming practices:<\/p>\n