Federal surveyors found an additional 36 million dead trees across California since its last aerial survey in May, bringing the total number of dead trees found in the last six years to over 102 million in the states drought-stricken forests, the government on Friday. Sixty-two million trees have died in 2016 alone, a 100 percent increase in dead trees across the state from 2015, according to a joint statement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service. This is sad for the state, US Forest Service Tree Mortality specialist Stephanie Gomes said on Friday from her base in Vallejo, California. Her team discovered that 36 million dead trees in the last five months, and 102 million dead trees have been tracked since 2010. Bark Beetle Outbreak Kills Millions of Trees Statewide Bark Beetle Outbreak Kills Millions of Trees Statewide. The dead and dying trees continue to elevate the risk of wildfire, complicate our efforts to respond safely and effectively to fires when they do occur, and pose threats to life and property across California.
California is continuing into the drought. Not only are the people and animals suffering but the environment as well. With the continuation of the dying trees increases the dangers of fires and decreases the amount of CO2 bing taken in by the trees. http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/New-Aerial-Survey-Identifies-More-Than-100-Million-Dead-Trees-in-California-401927265.html
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A global ban on genetically modified crops would raise food prices and add the equivalent of nearly a billion tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, a study shows. Using a model to assess the economic and environmental value of GMO crops, agricultural economists found that replacing GMO corn, soybeans and cotton with conventionally bred varieties worldwide would cause a 0.27 to 2.2 percent increase in food costs, depending on the region, with poorer countries hit hardest. Conversely, if countries that already plant GMOs expanded their use of genetically modified crops to match the rate of GMO planting in the United States, global greenhouse gas emissions would fall by the equivalent of 0.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide and would allow 0.8 million hectares of cropland (about 2 million acres) to return to forests and pastures. The Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have deemed GMO foods safe to eat, and the United States is the global leader in planting GMO crops and developing agricultural biotechnology. Banning GMO crops would also lead to an increase in global cropland of 3.1 million hectares (about 7.7 million acres), as land would be cleared to compensate for the lower yields of conventional crops.
This article is addressing on of the most important issues of our time, how are we going to feed our growing population. The answer is Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO), to produce more for our constantly growing population, which may not have enough food in the near future. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161108115714.htm Researchers have identified a mechanism that causes low clouds and their influence on Earth’s energy balance to respond differently to global warming depending on their spatial pattern and location. Despite having a positive cloud feedback in response to long-term projected global warming, the model exhibits a strong negative cloud feedback over the last 30 years. "With a combination of climate model simulations and satellite observations, we found that the trend of low-level cloud cover over the last three decades differs substantially from that under long-term global warming" said Chen Zhou, lead author of the paper.In response to increased carbon dioxide, climate models predict a nearly uniform warming of the planet that favors reductions in highly reflective low clouds and a positive feedback. The team emphasized that clouds are particularly sensitive to subtle differences in surface warming patterns, and researchers must carefully account for such pattern effects when making inferences about cloud feedback and climate sensitivity from observations over short time periods.
Recently, the public has been hearing humans are the soul reason for global warming. However, now we know it is from several reasons including clouds. In addition, there is still more data to me counted and tested for global warming causes. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161101093858.htm |
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