Climate - agriculture - food

These days, when a mass movement is calling on leaders to act to stop global warming and damage to the natural environment, it is appropriate to repeatedly present the damages of warming when most of the PM is based on news and studies in the USA - the same USA that is considered the largest polluter in relation to the number of inhabitants and that bears the brunt of warming and its results

Food is an "international language" except on days when heat records are broken, when the month of July was recorded as the hottest in the history of measurements https://phys.org/news/2019-08-scientists-july-global.html, and when extreme weather prevails All over the world, farmers face damage to crops and pastures. This is how, for example, in the regions of the USA the changes are made to torrential rains and floods that sweep away agricultural land, while in other areas farmers are looking for ways to continue growing and producing food despite periods of drought.

It is not just a situation of temporary "discomfort" as it is according to me The fourth report of the IPCC The forecasts show that extreme warming, periods of drought, fires and storms will increase and damage the fertility of the soil and agriculture, a situation in which the farmers will be harmed and because of this also price stability, nutritional security and food quality, an extreme forecast because extreme circumstances lead to this situation.

Climate change poses a series of challenges to farmers, as well as to the populations that depend on agriculture for food supply, changes that cause more extreme weather phenomena more often:
Extreme weather harms farm animals, storms destroy crops, torrential rains cause floods and soil erosion, such as the floods that occurred in 2018 in the USA andcaused the loss and losses of about half a billion dollars.

due to climate change (but also due to waste) There is an extreme lack of water in large areas of the USA.
Periods of drought and rapid snowmelt damage aquas and water reservoirs and make it difficult to supply water to the population during the summer. The seasons change and the summer gets longer. Apparently there is an advantage in a longer growing season, but a hot season poses obstacles such as an increase in the number of pests that are enough to give birth to more generations and more individuals that eat more each season. An early spring causes crops to grow before there is enough water and nutrients in the soil, or alternately causes rotting of fruits that yield early and then suffer from "cold-spring", warm winters harm the growth and storage of grains.

Because of the heat there are more Fires that damage farms and pastures. Damage to barns by fires reduces the supply of food for animals and people. The fires cause secondary damage by smoke that kills the wine grapes. Following fires, the costs of maintaining farms increase whose people are required to evacuate because of the danger, or workers who suffer from smoke inhalation. Periods of extreme heat force the farmers Stop work at the height of the harvest season, picking or collecting the crops.

Contrary to what may be commonly thought, warming and an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide cause damage to the supply of food, its quality and nutritional security, since more carbon dioxide causes a decrease in the content of proteins, iron, zinc and micronutrients in food crops.

According to the IPCC report , between 25% and 30% of food production in the world is wasted. In developed countries, consumers throw away what they see as unnecessary, in developing countries most of the waste is due to the inability to store it in a refrigerator on the way between the producer and the consumer. According to the report, about a trillion dollars worth of food is wasted every year.
The waste adds about 10% of greenhouse gas emissions from food production, this when two billion people suffer from overweight and more than a billion suffer from malnutrition, which clarifies the inefficiency and injustice in the distribution of food. Also, the warming causes exposure to toxins and pathogens such as Salmonella, Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Campylobacter, from eating oysters or mycotoxigenic fungus. All these and others thrive in a warm environment.

After all this, it is important to understand that not only is food production affected by warming, but that food production also contributes to warming. According to the IPCC report, agricultural land use and other uses contribute to more than a fifth of global carbon dioxide emissions and thus create a difficult and dangerous vicious circle, when, as mentioned, about 10% of the emissions from that fifth are caused by food waste.

In the IPCC report, a list of proposals was given for the mitigation of warming and also for adjustments to reduce damage to food production due to warming.
Among the proposals, the production of more sustainable food based on less meat and more plants, which will lead, among other things, to a reduction in damage to forests, agriculture without deep plowing which will cause carbon dioxide absorption (deep plowing causes the release of carbon dioxide that was in the soil) and of course stopping food waste. The authors of the report warn that "hesitating and postponing the necessary actions will be costly."
Postponing the reduction of emissions from all emitters, including those who trade in carbon dioxide, will cause irreversible damage to the soil, the environment and its services necessary for food supply and production. Habitats, settlements and public health will be damaged, which will cause damage to the economy of many countries and regions.

After all the gloomy predictions and warnings, the question arises: what can be done to prevent the impact of climate change on food production? It is necessary to improve soil health on a large scale, soil rich in nutrients stores carbon better. Also, it is clear that rich soil is more fertile - enables improved production.

Consumers can help by supporting farmers who practice sustainable agriculture. Considering the fact that a cattle farm is a "methane production plant".
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221209631730027X
It is clear that reducing meat consumption is another way to mitigate the damage. One of the initiatives that consumers can take is the use of "manure digesters" that emit methane that can be used to generate electricity. The use of algae to feed cattle to reduce belching is an interesting and important initiative.

It is clear that changing policy and redirecting resources and efforts by the state authorities is of utmost importance. The challenges are difficult but so are the opportunities and possibilities to adapt to the new situation by reducing offensive actions.
According to ten proposals for solutions in climate change https://www.drawdown.org/solutions-summary-by-rank in the third most important place is the importance of stopping food waste. A prominent place is occupied by a rich menu that relies on plants in combination with trees and pasture that will grow in the same area (silvopasturing).

It's not always easy to change, but it's easy to see how the global appetite for fossil fuel causes serious damage to food production and options for diversifying the menu. Is there a choice or possibility of not taking action for such an important change?
The researchers conclude with this sentence: "Through purchasing and food preferences, Americans will show concern for changes even if slowly and gradually."
The PM is mainly based on surveys and studies from the USA, while in other developed Western countries the problematic situation is similar, while in developing countries climate change is already causing serious damage to the ability of farmers to provide food to a population that, even on good days, suffers from malnutrition and hunger.

After all this, it is worth checking what is happening with us: our farmers are considered good and progressive, and accordingly the good crops, the cultivation and irrigation methods adapted to arid areas allow the growing of products in demand in "dry" seasons and times of demand, but because of the illusory market conditions in many cases food crops are destroyed. Because of a foolish and offensive policy, farmers are abandoning plots and drying up orchards. Instead of supporting and encouraging agriculture and farmers, the Minister of Agriculture, unnecessary authorities and extortionist organizations succeed in impoverishing farmers and turning this important and vital industry into a failed business.

It is worth knowing that the Israelis are progressing on the way to conquering records in eating meat, and also records in the use of plastic and disposable utensils. It turns out that the rush after American consumer "culture" is a contagious affliction that affects everyone. Products that reach the markets are purchased by consumers in excessive quantities and about a third is thrown in the trash. There are "good" people who leave loaves of bread on the trash cans (not in them) because of a mitzvah or faith. Others throw away alarming amounts of good usable food.

Despite attempts to place recycling containers, in urban settlements, the residents do not engage in separating the garbage and thus the possibility of compost production is denied, a negation that increases due to the tendency in our country towards winning the world championship in the use of plastic: bags, objects and disposable utensils that flood our surroundings, clog garbage dumps and eat on- by animals on land and in the sea.

And since the main topic is agriculture, it recently turned out that microplastics end up in water and agricultural products, which means we eat plastic. In our tiny country there is no room for inaction, there is no room for mistakes, therefore it is appropriate that those responsible for the policies entrusted with agriculture and food growing and also the entire public wake up before it is too late.