Climate change

Climate change will increase the negative impacts of drought stress on food production. This issue is particularly relevant for drought-sensitive legumes. For instance a moderate deficit of water can decrease soybean yields by about 40%. Experiments by agronomists Prudent et al. show that the yield of water-stressed soybean can be increased by adding a bacterial substance. Findings suggest promising field applications.

Global warming is partly due to increasing atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. Global warming will probably increase drought periods.  Plants assimilate CO₂ by photosynthesis to build plant roots, leaves and shoots. There is actually little knowledge on how plants will respond to increasing CO₂  and drought stress. Erbs et al grew maize under ambient CO₂ concentration, of 380 ppm, and elevated  CO₂ concentration, of 550 ppm. Some maize plants were grown well-watered, others were under drought stress. Results show that maize is not altered under elevated  CO₂ if maize is well-watered, contrary to some other plant species. Maize is thus a promising crop for future climate, provided that maize is well watered.

Green roofs recover green spaces in urban areas. Green roofs benefit the public, farmers and wildlife. Green roofs reduce stormwater runoff, mitigate urban heat island effects, absorb dust and smog, sequester CO2, produce O2, create space for food production, and provide natural habitat for animals and plants. Li and Babcock review the economic and environmental benefits of green roofs.

Climate change is mainly due to the increase of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Industrial agriculture is partly responsible of atmospheric CO2 increase because industrial agriculture burns rapidly soil carbon, the ‘fridge’ that contains also nutrients for plants and other living organisms. Misuse of common resources has been well defined in the concept of The Tragedy of the Commons. The review article by Stavi and Lal emphasizes the relevance of this concept for agriculture. The article focuses on field crop production and livestock husbandry. Sustainable agriculture practices that sequester soil carbon are described.