Field Information - Pick Up
Search Information Analysis
-
Pick Up712. The Need for Transboundary Policies to Conserve Soil Biodiversity
The European Union (EU), known for its passionate commitment to environmental issues, has stated its goal of restoring soil health in Europe and beyond. Maintaining soil health is important for a sustainable society, but how to achieve it is the challenge. In this issue, we would like to introduce the challenges facing soil diversity conservation from the article “Soil biodiversity needs policy without borders” published in Science.
-
Pick Up711. January 2023 World Food Price Index
On February 3, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released its latest World Food Price Index, which averaged 131.2 points in January 2023, the tenth consecutive monthly decline and 28.6 points (17.9%) lower than the high reached in March 2022. and sugar, while grain and meat prices remained stable. -
Pick Up710. February 3 is "Soybean Day"
February 3 is "Soybean Day”. It is set on February 3, which is often the day of the Setsubun festival. As part of the celebration, soybeans are scattered to drive away evil spirits and people eat as many soybeans as their age to pray for good health and good fortune. Today, we introduce the situation of soybeans in Japan and abroad, as well as soybean research at JIRCAS.
-
Pick Up709. Urgent Transformation of the Food System
The war in Ukraine helped turn public attention toward the food crisis, but the number of hungry people was on the rise even before the war. Ironically, from 1961 to 2020, world food production quadrupled, and from 2000 to 2020 alone, the number of hungry people increased despite a 50% increase in food production. The World Bank blog noted that the problem is not temporary, but deeper-rooted, and argued for the urgency of transforming food systems according to each country's circumstances. -
Pick Up708. 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”. -
Pick Up707. 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.
-
Pick Up706. 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. -
Pick Up705. 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. -
Pick Up704. 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. -
Pick Up703. 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. -
Pick Up702. 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. -
Pick Up701. 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. -
Pick Up700. 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.
-
Pick Up699. 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.
-
Pick Up698. 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.
-
Pick Up697. 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.
-
Pick Up696. 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.
-
Pick Up695. 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.
-
Pick Up694. 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.
-
Pick Up693. 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.