Information Analysis
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708. The Water Crisis
Among the world's polycrisis, the water crisis is the most urgent, and an article in Nature called for research to help solve the water crisis. In the context of the SDGs, the water-centered goal is SDG 6 “Clean water and sanitation” but water is also critical to achieving the food security goal - SDG 2 "Zero hunger”.
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707. The Wonder of Superfood "Quinoa" Native to South America
Quinoa, which has been gaining attention in recent years as a "superfood," is a miracle crop that can grow even in the harsh environment of the vicinity of salt lakes such as Lake Uyuni in Bolivia. The SATREPS Symposium: The Wonder of Superfood "Quinoa" Native to South America, will be held on Tuesday, February 7, 2023. Researchers from Bolivia and producers who have started quinoa cultivation in Hokkaido are invited as lecturers to introduce to the general public the fascinating crops of the Andes Mountains, such as quinoa and potato, and communicate the potential of quinoa as a food for the future.
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706. Lessons from Weather and Climate Science for Future Pandemics
Three years have passed since late January 2020, when a new type of coronavirus broke out and reports began to come in about infected people in Japan. Recently, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) published an article titled "Learning from weather and climate science to prepare for a future pandemic”. The article suggested that infectious disease modeling research can also learn a great deal from the half century of experience that weather and climate research has had with uncertainty, forecasting, global data sharing, and multi-billion dollar policy discussions.
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705. Connections of Tipping Elements in the Earth System
In the Earth system, tipping elements that are likely to exceed tipping points with large-scale changes that will gradually become irreversible due to human activities include the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, deforestation of the Amazon, and others. These are remotely correlated in the Earth system. These are remotely correlated in the Earth system and could have unforeseen domino effects on the climate system. A paper recently published in Nature Climate Change pointed to a mechanism by which the Amazon rainforest could reach a tipping point and spill over to the seemingly distant Tibetan Plateau.
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704. Food Price Hikes and Child Malnutrition in Low and Middle Income Countries
Food prices are rising around the world, and according to Headey and Ruel (2022), a 5% increase in real food prices in low and middle income countries increases the risk of wasting by 9% and of severe stunting by 14% among pre-school children.
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703. Melting of Glaciers and Ice Sheets
A severe cold wave is descending on Japan this week. Meanwhile, academic papers have recently reported a series of cases of accelerated melting of the Greenland ice sheet, a melting crisis under warming of glaciers in mountainous regions except for the Greenland and Arctic ice sheets, and a decrease in snow cover in the Alps.
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702. The Full Potential of Insects ～For Crop Cultivation, Food, and Feed～
Approximately 1.9 million species of organisms are currently known to exist on the earth. Of the 1.9 million organisms found, about 1 million are insects, and their contribution to humanity and the ecosystem is immeasurable. Today's Pick Up summarizes information on the use of insects, which have been the focus of much attention in recent years.
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701. Achieving Methane Reduction
As we reported in our Pick Up article late last year, atmospheric methane has reached record levels in recent years and has reportedly been increasing at an alarming rate over the past several years. The Nature Climate Change article, titled Methane Possible, proposes the urgency of realizing methane reductions and identifies 2023 as a critical year for progress on methane mitigation measures. The year 2023 is a critical year for progress on methane mitigation.
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700. Sustainable Eating Habits
Today's article marks the 700th Pick Up since we began in March 2020. Here we present a discussion on sustainable diets by Prof. Jessica Fanzo, a leading expert on food system issues. Sustainable diets must take into account environmental sustainability as well as balancing the environmental and nutritional needs of various communities around the world. Individuals becoming aware of where and how food is produced and procured, and making wise food choices, will likely lead to saving the health of our planet.
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699. China's Population Declines in 2022, India Leads the World in 2023
In the "World Population Prospects 2022," released on the occasion of World Population Day on July 11, the United Nations predicted that China's population would begin to decline in 2022, and now statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China also confirmed a population decline in 2022.
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698. Challenges to Fertilizer Availability
The CEO of a global fertilizer company reportedly accused the Russian president of "weaponising food" as many countries rely on Russian fertilizer for food production. The World Bank noted that while fertilizer prices have recently calmed compared to early 2022, they remain at historically high levels and availability remains a challenge.
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697. 2022 - One of the Warmest Years on Record
On January 12, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) declared 2022 the fifth warmest year on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ranked 2022 as the sixth warmest year on record, and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) declared that the past eight years were the warmest globally based on six international weather data sets. NASA also reported that the summer in North America has been the warmest on record, especially in the northern regions.
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696. Brutal Weather Changes as New Normal
The United States has been plagued by drought and wildfires due to low rainfall over the past few years, and it has been reported that California has been experiencing heavy rains since the end of the year, causing significant damage. Under climate change, the probability of drought and flood extremes is said to be increasing. Under climate change, "rough and brutal" weather changes could become "the new normal.
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695. Global Risks Report 2023
The Global Risks Report, published annually in January by the World Economic Forum (WEF), provides a window into global issues from the perspective of the world's leaders. The 2023 report states that the 2020s, which opened with the new normal following the COVID-19 crisis, are simultaneously facing old and new types of environmental and social risks, coupled with a cascade of food and energy crises due to the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
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694. International Year of Millets 2023
The United Nations has designated 2023 as the International Year of Millets (IYM2023). Millet is a crop that grows better in arid lands and is more tolerant of climatic changes than other cereals. Furthermore, millet is also called "nutri-cereal" due to its high nutritional value, and is attracting attention.
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693. The Role of International Cooperation in Ozone Layer Recovery
On January 9, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced at the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society that the ozone layer over the Antarctic is recovering, and that efforts to restore the ozone layer initiated by the 1987 Montreal Protocol have been successful, with the phase out of nearly 99% of the banned ozone-depleting substances. If current policies are maintained, the ozone level is expected to recover to 1980 values by around 2066 over the Antarctic and these efforts are also expected to contribute to global warming mitigation.
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692. December 2022 World Food Price Index
On January 6, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released its latest World Food Price Index, showing that December 2022 was the ninth consecutive month of decline and 1.0% lower than a year ago. However, for the year 2022 as a whole, the food price index is 14.3% higher than in 2021.
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691. Record High Temperatures in Europe During the New Year Holidays
The cold air over the northern and western Japan during the year-end and New Year's holidays has made the wind feel colder than usual, even in the Kanto region, where sunny days continue. On the other hand, many areas in Europe are said to have had record warm New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, with temperatures reaching nearly 20°C (68°F). The impact of climate change on this high temperature will be scientifically verified, but the actual experience of weather phenomena outside the norm is likely to contribute to increased awareness of climate change countermeasures.
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690. Cost to Reconfigure the Food System
Rebuilding the food system into a resilient and sustainable system is constrained by limited information on the amount of investment needed globally. A paper recently published in Global Food Security attempted to estimate the costs required to rebuild the food system. The paper estimated the total cost of food system transformation at USD 1.3 ± 0.1 trillion per year, showing that the seemingly enormous cost is only equivalent to 7% of the negative environmental and health externalities that the current food system causes each year, and that the benefits from action are significant.
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689. Welcome 2023
In Nature journal's list of notable science news for 2023, the topic of reconciling the interests of developing and developed countries in the run-up to COP28, scheduled to be held in Dubai, was mentioned in relation to climate change. In order to realize international collaboration, it is necessary to have science-policy dialogue to recognize the diversity of the world's food and agriculture systems and to apply science and technology approaches that are tailored to the circumstances of each country and region. In 2023, Pick Up will continue to disseminate information on food systems as a global challenge.