This Is Your Thanksgiving on Climate Change

[octoberlib]

The "turkey belt" of the United States is in the South, where states like Virginia, North Carolina, and Arkansas contribute the bulk of our national annual haul of over a quarter of a billion birds. But if you're worried about keeping turkey on your Thanksgiving table into the future, you might turn your attention to the Midwest. After this summer's record-breaking heat and drought in the Corn Belt, the grain supplies that plump the birds up for market dwindled, prices spiked, and as of fall turkeys are the most expensive per pound they've been in 10 years.If the sticker shock is too much, you can always take a cue from the Pilgrims and go hunt your own. But global warming could complicate that, too: The Audubon Society reported that rising temperatures have driven the natural range for wild turkeys 400 miles north in the last 40 years. And drought puts grub for wild birds at risk, too. "Farmers can mitigate climate change with their wallets," Audubon scientist Gary Langham says. "Turkeys don't have wallets, so they don't have any options."


No halfway decent Thanksgiving plate is complete without a dollop of mashed potatoes and gravy. Unfortunately, rising temperatures are endangering the future of that creamy dish. Elevated spring temperatures in Idaho could produce an 18 percent drop in spud yields and an annual $141 million economic loss to the state, according to the American Security Project. Additionally, volatile rainfall will also create irrigation problems. Scientists also fear that the destructive potato tuber moth, which now frequents farms in Africa and New Zealand, could increase infestation in its usual hotspots and expand its range in North America, South America, and Europe.
Over in Wisconsin—where growers typically produce more cranberries than any other state—the cranberry is actually the official state fruit. Like most woody perennials, cranberry plants go dormant for part of the year, and Wisconsin's typically bone-chilling winters are great for this important stage. Tod Planer, a coordinator with the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association, says that during recent mild winters, berries have failed to freeze, forcing farmers to cover their crops in fresh water every few days to make sure oxygen reaches the plants. One Wisconsin farmer told Grow magazine that he saw his first cranberry blossom in mid-May this year, the earliest he's ever witnessed. Mild weather in March spurred his plants into production, but then the cold returned and damaged the early vines, leaving the farmer to predict a major loss.

It'd be enough to make Popeye choke on that pipe: In 2009, newly anointed Secretary of Energy Steven Chu warned that rising temperatures and water shortages owed to climate change could eviscerate California's "salad bowl"—the region responsible for producing half the nation's fresh vegetables and two-thirds of its spinach—by the end of the century. "I don't think the American public has gripped in its gut what could happen," Chu told the Los Angeles Times then. "We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California."


NASA has been keeping tabs on California’s disappearing snow melt, a critical resource for the crops, while USDA researchers are racing to breed stoicism into the water-loving leafy greens. "Forecasts show that global warming over the next several decades will take place irrespective of any action taken today," says Beiquan Mou, a plant geneticist working to engineer drought- and heat-resistant spinach and lettuce at the USDA.

If corn bread, creamed corn, or creamy fried confetti corn are some of your Thanksgiving favorites, you ought to be pretty worried about climate change. A 2009 study predicted that in a worst-case global warming scenario, corn, cotton, and soy-bean yields could decrease by 80 percent by 2100 (best case is 30 percent). The drought the Midwest saw this summer was the worst in half a century, and the USDA predicts corn yield this year may plummet to around 122 bushels per acre—the lowest since 1995.

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2012/11/thanksgiving-climate-change

[NoOneMan]

1. "you ought to be pretty worried about climate change"

...if all the stuff you buy that contributes to climate change costs more.

Can anyone who puts the environment first also be angry about paying more when buying their fake-turkey from the store? Seems like a contradiction.

[octoberlib]

3. I agree.

I live in NC where the waste from hog farms has completely ruined the surrounding rivers and streams. Sadly, most Americans won't pay attention to climate change until it affects them directly in some way.

[AverageJoe90]

2. Yeah.

The truth is, climate change is indeed becoming somewhat more serious than many people used to think 10-20 years ago, at least in some ways.

However, though, it does seem that there's been a general awakening these past few years, and one which, thankfully, seems to have been intensified by Sandy's impact on NYC this past month.