Photosynthesis Global Climate Change And Food Production

Photosynthesis, Global Climate Change, and Food Production The process of photosynthesis has a theoretical efficiency of 30%, but in reality the efficiency is much lower. It is only about 3% on cloudy days. Why is so much solar energy lost? There are a number of factors contributing to this energy loss, and one metabolic pathway that contributes to this low efficiency is photorespiration. All biomes are affected by global conditions, such as climate, that ultimately shape each biome's environment. Scientists who study climate have noted a series of marked changes that have gradually become increasingly evident during the last sixty years. Global climate change is the term used to describe altered global weather patterns, including a worldwide increase in temperature, due largely to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Chapter Outline: Photosynthetic Pathways Climate and the Effects of Global Climate Change Human Population Continues to Grow The Open Courses Library introduces you to the best Open Source Courses.

Food, Climate, and Carbon Dioxide presents the most comprehensive and up-to-date discussion on the effects of the rising level of atmospheric carbon dioxide on crop production and plant growth. The emphasis is global. It examines crops of economic value, with special attention to the food crops that stand between people and starvation. The author has brought together his knowledge and 50 years of experience dealing with global food production problems, coupled with and a background of his own premier research on the positive effects of elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide on plant growth and crop productivity. Topics addressed include the climate as a resource in food production and climatic impacts and direct effects from rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide on crops. The book provides global and regional projections of a CO2 -induced climate change and food production. Food security is discussed and future possibilities for research are presented. Suitable as a text and invaluable as a reference, it presents the latest developments drawn from a wide scientific community and uses language and terminology appropriate for a diverse audience.

Changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and global climate conditions have altered photosynthesis and plant respiration across both geologic and contemporary time scales. Understanding climate change effects on plant carbon dynamics is critical for predicting plant responses to future growing conditions. Furthermore, demand for biofuel, fibre and food production is rapidly increasing with the ever-expanding global human population, and our ability to meet these demands is exacerbated by climate change. This volume integrates physiological, ecological, and evolutionary perspectives on photosynthesis and respiration responses to climate change. We explore this topic in the context of modeling plant responses to climate, including physiological mechanisms that constrain carbon assimilation and the potential for plants to acclimate to rising carbon dioxide concentration, warming temperatures and drought. Additional chapters contrast climate change responses in natural and agricultural ecosystems, where differences in climate sensitivity between different photosynthetic pathways can influence community and ecosystem processes. Evolutionary studies over past and current time scales provide further insight into evolutionary changes in photosynthetic traits, the emergence of novel plant strategies, and the potential for rapid evolutionary responses to future climate conditions. Finally, we discuss novel approaches to engineering photosynthesis and photorespiration to improve plant productivity for the future. The overall goals for this volume are to highlight recent advances in photosynthesis and respiration research, and to identify key challenges to understanding and scaling plant physiological responses to climate change. The integrated perspectives and broad scope of research make this volume an excellent resource for both students and researchers in many areas of plant science, including plant physiology, ecology, evolution, climate change, and biotechnology. For this volume, 37 experts contributed chapters that span modeling, empirical, and applied research on photosynthesis and respiration responses to climate change. Authors represent the following seven countries: Australia (6); Canada (9), England (5), Germany (2), Spain (3), and the United States (12).

Roughly a billion people around the world continue to live in state of chronic hunger and food insecurity. Unfortunately, efforts to improve their livelihoods must now unfold in the context of a rapidly changing climate, in which warming temperatures and changing rainfall regimes could threaten the basic productivity of the agricultural systems on which most of the world’s poor directly depend. But whether climate change represents a minor impediment or an existential threat to development is an area of substantial controversy, with different conclusions wrought from different methodologies and based on different data. This book aims to resolve some of the controversy by exploring and comparing the different methodologies and data that scientists use to understand climate’s effects on food security. In explains the nature of the climate threat, the ways in which crops and farmers might respond, and the potential role for public and private investment to help agriculture adapt to a warmer world. This broader understanding should prove useful to both scientists charged with quantifying climate threats, and policy-makers responsible for crucial decisions about how to respond. The book is especially suitable as a companion to an interdisciplinary undergraduate or graduate level class.

In order to feed their burgeoning populations, developing nations will need to double cereal production by the year 2050. This increase will have to come from existing land, as little potential exists for bringing new land under cultivation -- a daunting prospect when one realizes that increased use and significantly higher concentrations of carbon

Explore the Relationship between Crop and Climate Agricultural sustainability has been gaining prominence in recent years and is now becoming the focal point of modern agriculture. Recognizing that crop production is very sensitive to climate change, Climate Change Effect on Crop Productivity explores this timely topic in-depth. Incorporating contributions by expert scientists, professors, and researchers from around the world, it emphasizes concerns about the current state of agriculture and of our environment. This text analyzes the global consequences to crop yields, production, and risk of hunger linking climate and socioeconomic scenarios. Addresses Biotechnology, Climate Change, and Plant Productivity The book contains 19 chapters covering issues such as CO2, ozone on plants, productivity fertilization effect, UV (ultraviolet) radiation, temperature, and stress on crop growth. The text discusses the impact of changing climate on agriculture, environment stress physiology, adaptation mechanism, climate change data of recent years, impact of global warming, and climate change on different crops. It explores the overall global picture in terms of the effect of crops to climate change during abiotic stress and considers strategies for offsetting and adapting to ongoing climate change. Details how and why climate change occurs and how it effects crop productivity and agriculture Considers what measures should be taken to mitigate the effect of climate change on agriculture Highlights the effect of climate change on crop productivity, the invention of new technology, and strategies for agriculture practice to adapt to climate change Provides an analysis of the global warming effect on crop productivity due to climate change and long-term agriculture technique development Confirms the asymmetry between potentially severe agricultural damages such as the effect on crop yield due to variation in temperature Reports on the results of experiments to assess the effects of global climate change on crop productivity An asset to agriculturists, environmentalists, climate change specialists, policy makers, and research scholars, Climate Change Effect on Crop Productivity provides relevant information and opportunities for productive engagement and discussion among government negotiators, experts, stakeholders, and others concerned about climate change and agriculture.

This book reports on the results of experiments to assess the effects of global climate change on the agricultural production of crops and livestock. It covers issues such as the CO2 fertilization effect, the adverse effects of elevated levels of UV-B radiation and ozone on plant growth and productivity, and on livestock. Combined effects are also studied, including changing CO2, temperature, and UV-B radiation and O3 simultaneously on crop growth. The concluding chapters give an idea of the overall global picture in terms of the effects already discussed. Changes in the world hydrological cycle, the regional availability of water resources, changes in soil conditions and the impact of this on food production, as well as modelling techniques, are all examined. Contents Chapter 1: The Climate Change: Agriculture Conundrum by W G Sombroek and R Gommes; Chapter 2: The Effects of Changes in the World Hydrological Cycle on Availability of Water Resources by T E Evans; Chapter 3: The Effects of Global Change on Soil Conditions in Relation to Plant Growth and Food Production by R Brinkman and W G Sombroek ; Chapter 4: The CO2 Fertilization Effect: Higher Carbohydrate Production and Retention as Biomass and Seed Yield by L H Allen Jr, J T Baker and K J Boote; Chapter 5: The Effects of Elevated CO2 and Temperature Change on Transpiration and Crop Water Use by S C Van de Geijn and J Gourdriaan; Chapter 6: Effects of Higher Day and Night Temperatures on Growth and Yields of Some Crop Plants by Y P Abrol and K T Ingram; Chapter 7: Adverse Effects of Elevated Levels of Ultraviolet (UV)-B Radiation and Ozone (O3) on Crop Growth and Productivity by S V Krupa and H Jager; Chapter 8: Combined Effects of Changing CO2, Temperature, UV-B Radiation and O3 on Crop Growth by M H Unsworth and W E Hogsett; Chapter 9: The Potential Effects of Climate Change on World Food Production and Security by G Fischer, K Frohberg, M L Parry and C Rosenzweig; Chapter 10: Climate Change, Global Agriculture and Regional Vulnerability by J Reilly; Chapter 11: Integrating Land-use Change and Evaluating Feedbacks in Global Change Models: The IMAGE 2 Approach by R Leemans, G J Van den Bornand L Bouwman; Chapter 12: Global Change Impacts on Agriculture, Forestry and Soils: The Programme of the Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystem Core Project of IGBP by B Tinker, J Goudriaan, P Teng, M Swift, S Linder, J Ingram and S Van de Geijn; Chapter 13: Global Climate Change and Agricultural Production: An Assessment of Current Knowledge and Critical Gaps by F A Bazzaz and W G Sombroek.