Category Archives: Agriculture

Memo to Doubters—I was Tempted to say “Deniers”—CO2 is Plant Food!

Posted on June 30, 2012 by

Guest post by Indur M. Goklany This illustration from a recent article in Science magazine shows that CO2 is plant food.  It is based on both empirical data and model results (not “data”).  I know that looking at empirical data … Continue reading →

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Posted in Agriculture, Carbon dioxide, Positive effects of CO2 | Tagged , , , , , , , | 94 Comments

USGS models ‘Climate-change-induced aridity’ in California

Posted on June 7, 2012 by

More climate modeling from a  non-climate organization, I hope they still track Earthquakes. News Release Climate Change and Water Supply in California’s Central Valley: A Model Approach SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Scientists have developed a new method to help resource … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Modeling, Rainfall | Tagged , , , , | 47 Comments

Crying over the carbon footprint of spilt milk

Posted on May 13, 2012 by

From the University of Edinburgh via Eurekalert, just scratching the surface of this press release suggests something’s gone sour, the numbers they cite don’t make for much concern in the larger context of things. See below. Milk poured down Britain’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Alarmism, Carbon footprint, Ridiculae | Tagged , , , , | 115 Comments

Rainfall has a greater impact than rising temperature on crop yields

Posted on April 5, 2012 by

From Wiley-Blackwell Is rainfall a greater threat to China’s agriculture than warming? Impact of climate change on China explored in new plant science virtual issue New research into the impact of climate change on Chinese cereal crops has found rainfall … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture | Tagged , , , , , , , | 34 Comments

Wild about grains and global warming

Posted on February 26, 2012 by

This makes me wonder, since most of the world’s food supply is from cultivated grains, as opposed to wild ones, and since yields have been increasing thanks to selective breeding programs, fertilizer use, and better farming practices, where’s the problem? … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Alarmism | Tagged , , , , , , , | 72 Comments

Looks like “global warming” is off the hook for honeybee deaths

Posted on January 6, 2012 by

Back in 2007, Wired Magazine mused: It’s only slightly less ridiculous than the other bee killing theory that year – cell phones. I published a story about the loony idea that was proposed by some researcher in Europe about “cell … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Alarmism, Science | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 88 Comments

Global Warming and Walnut Trees: a Case Study in Deception

Posted on December 19, 2011 by

Guest post by Dr. David Deming The science of global warming is allegedly “settled.” The American Physical Society has declared that “global warming is occurring” and that the “evidence is incontrovertible.” According to environmentalists and advocacy organizations, unchecked global warming … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Alarmism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 196 Comments

Crops that are about adapting to weather, not climate

Posted on December 13, 2011 by

From the University of Edinburgh  a suggestion that the food security issue raised by AGW alarmists might not be worrisome at all. Of course the next complaint will be that we shouldn’t use modified crops to our advantage and that … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture | Tagged , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Borlaug 2.0 ?

Posted on October 13, 2011 by

From McGill University A plan to improve crop yields instead of shutting down industrial society as some potential eco terrorists want to do. Norman Borlaug made huge advances in agriculture. He was an American agronomist, humanitarian, and Nobel laureate who … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture | Tagged , , , | 115 Comments

Peak Oil, Climate Change and the threat to food security

Posted on October 8, 2011 by

Guest post by David Archibald In May, WUWT kindly hosted a post with slides from a presentation I gave to the Institute of World Politics in Washington. Following are some further slides from a presentation I gave during the week … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Energy | 168 Comments

Debunked: the “climate change causes wars” myth

Posted on August 29, 2011 by

From the Center for Strategic and International Studies The Washington Quarterly, a total takedown of the myth that wars and climate change are linked as claimed by this ridiculous study from Columbia University we covered last week titled: That darned … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Alarmism | 56 Comments

The pathway to go after farming and fertilizers

Posted on August 22, 2011 by

Reading this, especially with the climate doom opening paragraph, I’m left with the idea that it will be used as a tool to limit modern farming practices by going after yield enhancing chemical fertilzers. …it might even be feasible to … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture | Tagged , , , | 52 Comments

Mapping the guilt of fruits and vegetables out of state

Posted on August 4, 2011 by

From DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, probably the biggest load of crap I’ve seen in quite some time. I realize that’s harsh,  and I don’t think I’ve ever used that sentence to describe a scientific study, but there’s really no other … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Carbon footprint, Obvious science | Tagged , , | 94 Comments

Uh oh, CO2 actually reverses temperature effect on rangelands

Posted on August 3, 2011 by

The results of a USDA experiment called PHACE (Prairie Heating and CO2 Enrichment) where liquid CO2 is injected into the ground from a storage tank, then effects measure on grassland growth, shows a surprising result: increased range grass growth leading … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Carbon dioxide | Tagged , , , | 57 Comments

Quantifying the moo

Posted on July 19, 2011 by

From the USDA, via Eurekalert. The goal was quantifying the moo. Next step, regulation. Hello $10/gallon milk.  In the first detailed study on emissions from large-scale dairies, ARS researchers found that a commercial dairy with 10,000 milk cows generated an … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture | Tagged , , , , , | 88 Comments

WTF? US Geological Survey studying rice, fungus, & climate

Posted on July 13, 2011 by

From this USGS Press Release. What, you don’t have enough earthquakes to chase or maps to make? Read your mission statement when you applied to congress for funding: The USGS plays a crucial role in protecting the public from natural … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture | Tagged | 54 Comments

Oh noes! Giant thistle weeds a coming consequence of climate change, but another study says “maybe not”

Posted on May 31, 2011 by

Yellow starthistle is indeed a problem in western states, but the problem preceded “climate change” by decades.  See the end of the press release for more. Climate change allows invasive weed to outcompete local species May 31, 2011 WEST LAFAYETTE, … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Alarmism | Tagged , , , | 51 Comments

Potential Agricultural Impact of the Eddy Minimum

Posted on May 12, 2011 by

Guest post by David Archibald I will be giving a lecture in Washington in early June on my way through to the Bahamas. Following are the slides that pertain to the agricultural impact of the current de Vries cycle event … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Solar | Tagged , , , | 156 Comments

Stanford claims farmers “dodged impacts of global warming” in the USA, but you have to find it first.

Posted on May 6, 2011 by

But it looks to me as if corn doesn’t care. Check out U.S. corn yield. Corn seems to be doing well. I used corn yield because in the Stanford Press Release, they refer to corn yields. Some of the gains … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture | Tagged , , | 122 Comments

Another significant land use effect found – sugar cane

Posted on April 18, 2011 by

It has long been known that changes in land use can affect local temperatures. Switching from forest to pastureland to a concrete jungle has a measurable effect. Here, we see that the type of crop associated has a dramatic effect: … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Land use land cover change | Tagged , | 106 Comments