Suggested Highlights for the EM WG1 report

1. Suggested Highlights for the EM WG1 report Mickey Glantz 16 March 2008 (re-discovered on mac/home: 31 jan 2009) Illustrations added july 20, 2015). Illustrations sources identified and images improved by Rob Ross dec. 21, 2015

2. Policy makers faced with dealing with climate change are armed with information, knowledge and experience derived from historical accounts of climate, water and weather impacts as well as scenarios derived from computer modeling efforts. http://www.coachurself.it/catalogo/

3. Many adaptation and mitigation actions to cope with climate change are worth taking even in the absence of such change. https://www.usaid.gov/climate/adaptation-guide

4. Governments must evaluate the way they deal with creeping (slow onset, incremental, cumulative) changes in the environment, as those changes tend to erode food security. http://www.ejeepney.org/tag/slow-onset-impacts/

5. Even if climate change adaptation policy is on the right track, governments must stay alert to the changes in the rates at which the environment is changing. https://www.pinterest.com/efriesen4plc/running/

6. “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” (WFS 1996) http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/51cbf14d7896bb431f6a507a/?topic=51cbfc7ff702fc2ba812aff2

7. In preparing to cope with climate change governments must assess their resiliencies (adaptive capacity) as well as their vulnerabilities. http://www.resorgs.org.nz/Content/what-is-organisational-resilience.html

8. Baseline data are urgently needed to assist in the monitoring and detection of and response to the creeping (slow) onset of the impacts of climate change. Reference

9. A crucial part of resiliency mapping definitely includes traditional knowledge about food production efforts of the world’s farmers, fishers and herders. http://agrobiodiversityplatform.org

10. Even if greenhouse gas emissions were to be stabilized, anthropogenic warming and sea-level rise would continue for many decades, centuries maybe, because of the timescales associated with climate processes and feedbacks. http://inspiredeconomist.com/2014/10/29/global-warming-mitigation-2014-nca/

11. It appears that the African continent is likely to become the most affected and therefore most in need of resources for developing effective adaptive capacity. http://www.our-africa.org/climate

12. Climate variability from year to year will continue to cause problems for agriculture (water, food, forests, biofuels, fisheries). Adapting to variability goes a long way toward adapting to climate change. Reference Reference

13. Without a perfect forecast, skill is needed in the form of education, training and existing “ordinary knowledge”for effective management of climate-sensitive resources linked to food security. https://bluewhite10.wordpress.com/

14. Climate-environment-society interactions are complex, BUT complexity (like uncertainty) should not be used as an excuse for inaction or as an excuse not to involve civil society in planning for coping with climate change impacts. http://www.wifi-in-schools-australia.org/p/page-2.html

15. National policy makers need regional and local information in order to make relevant adaptation and mitigation policies. http://www.gb7dd.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/scalability.jpg Slideshare.net

16. Because all countries live by the expected flow of the seasons, no country will escape changes in seasonality with a warmer atmosphere. https://www.tacc.utexas.edu/-/simulating-seasons

17. Many of the expected climate change related adverse impacts on agriculture have already been occurring elsewhere on the globe. Look for them for coping guidelines. http://blog.ucsusa.org/brenda-ekwurzel/climate-extremes-new-ipcc-report http://ecowatch.com/2012/10/31/climate-change-mega-storms/

18. Adaptation strategy will likely take place “in parts” with highest priorities responses going to protect aspects of greatest concern to civil society. http://www.slideshare.net/cgiarclimate/facing-climate-variability-and-extremes

19. Sea level rise is truly a global hotspot: all island nations as well as all low-lying coastal urban and other areas are at high risk to this adverse consequence of climate change. Reference http://uniquefacts.net/facts/effects-of-global-warming/ Reference Reference

20. Not every interaction between agriculture and the environment is a negative or zero-sum one, where either the environment or agriculture wins at the expense of the other. Reference

21. Governments do not have to wait for hotspots to occur, before taking preventive action. The reason to focus on hotspots assessment is to avoid creating them where they do not yet exist. Take action in critical zones, before the hotspots become fully developed and harder to resolve.

22. Governments need to focus on coping with creeping changes in climate, water and weather, because those creeping changes eventually accumulate, leading to a future, more costly crisis. http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2012/06/the-unintended-ship-graveyards-of-the-aral-sea/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aral_Sea_1989-2008.jpg Aral Sea: 1989 left & 2014 right

23. Ecologist Barry Commoner’s Four Laws of Ecology” are relevant to the impacts on food security of climate change adaptation and mitigation. http://quotesgram.com/ecological-quotes/

24. Mitigation policies are the first and foremost line of defense for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. https://ccafs.cgiar.org/es/node/49189#.VnnQycq8x0Q

25. Many climate-related surprises are knowable at some level, through the use of historical information, case studies and scenarios. http://ericblock3.com/category/social-responsibility/

26. Agriculture is involved in many controversies and conflicts (food vs biofuel production). Governments need to consider how those conflicts will be affected by climate change. Reference

27. While some governments may think they will benefit from global warming in the short term, there are likely to be few benefits in the long term. http://pt.slideshare.net/zeal_eagle/deforestation-13172668/21?smtNoRedir=1

28. Known “best practices” provide a useful starting point for brainstorming to develop new climate-related strategies for food security in the long term. http://emitassociates.com/services/training/planning/

29. Agricultural planners have a responsibility to pay attention to the public’s “ordinary knowledge” as reliable input to food security decision making. Indigenous Knowledge Responses to Climate Change in Africa Reference

30. Developing an initial set of strategic adaptation responses to potential impacts of climate change on food security is only the first stage of an ongoing process.

31. Governments have to realize that whatever adaptation or mitigation strategies they pursue, those strategies will generate their own impacts in other sectors of society. Reference

32. Global statistics are useful for some purposes, but governments need national, regional and local information to make better informed decisions about climate change. Reference

33. Many governments throughout history believed they could dominate nature only to find out later at some cost that nature has limits that must be respected.

34. An example: El Niño 1997-98 Seasonal Predictions Introducing Resilient Adaptationas a “social invention” An optimal outcome of adaptation policies would be to reduce vulnerability while increasing resilience, in other words “resilient adaptation”. • Flexible, shifting interventions • Plasticity • Requires innovation • Requires improvisation • It attempts to “glimpse” the future • It brings stability while coping with changes in resilience

35. It is easy to design on paper ways to enhance food security, but in practice there are societal constraints that have to be overcome to reach desired goals. Gelleryhip.com

36. A cross-cutting multi-agency and multi-sectoral approach better addresses climate change planning and will also serve to strengthen the agencies and sectors. http://holographicseo.com/cms/local-business-networking-meetings.seo

37. Beware of “science-related” fads for adaptation or mitigation of global warming. Investigate before you invest in new adaptation schemes. Bad Fads

38. The costs and benefits associated with trade-offs must be made explicit to policy makers and the public for proposed adaptation and mitigation measures. Sometimes policy makers have to make “satisficing” (that is, making ‘good enough’ decisions, but not the best decisions); Satisfied but with some sacrifice.

39. Prevention policies must be considered along with adaptation and mitigation, because attempts to begin new activities, known to produce greenhouse gases can be blocked. http://www.ushsr.com/benefits/sustainability.html

40. Governments must consider how adaptation in one socio-economic sector impacts the possibility (positively or negatively) for effective adaptation in another sector. http://karlnorth.com