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Pick Up371. About 30% of the World’s Trees are Threatened with Extinction
Trees determine the distribution and composition of forests and are important components of biodiversity and carbon sinks. A research project called the Global Tree Assessment compiled information on the risk of extinction for 58,497 tree species worldwide, and reported that about a third of the world's tree species are threatened with extinction. Threats to trees include deforestation, loss of habitat, overfishing for timber, and the spread of invasive alien and diseases. -
Pick Up370. More Extreme Weather Over Past 50 Years, Fewer Casualties due to Early Warnings
On August 31, 2021, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released the Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes (1970 – 2019). During this period, the number of disasters has increased fivefold, not only because of the effects of climate change, but also because of improved reporting on them, while at the same time, thanks to early warning systems and disaster management, the number of casualties has dropped significantly to less than a third. According to the recently released State of the Climate in 2020, despite the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, greenhouse gases reached an all-time high and 102 hurricanes and typhoons were named. -
Pick Up369. Explaining Climate Change Terminology to the General Public
In October 2020, the Japanese government declared its intention to decarbonize the country by 2050, and the way we deal with climate change is about to change the way we live, with many news reports on the subject about it. On the other hand, there is a major concern that the words used by climate change experts are often unfamiliar to the general public. A study conducted by the University of Southern California in coordination with the United Nations Foundation found that the terms used by researchers to describe climate change are too complex, and that in order to gain widespread support for action, it is necessary to communicate the climate crisis in a more understandable way, using everyday language that the general public can easily understand. -
Pick Up368. ACSAC10: The 10th Asian Crop Science Association Conference
The 10th Asian Crop Science Association Conference (ACSAC10), organized by the Crop Science Society of Japan and other organizations, will be held online on September 8-10, 2021. The conference will be attended by leading researchers and engineers in crop production-related fields from all over Asia, and the latest research results related to sustainable production of crops in Asia will be discussed. JIRCAS is supporting this conference with a keynote lecture from Pres. KOYAMA Osamu and sponsoring a session on temperature stress.
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Pick Up367. Climate Change Policies Should Focus on the Social Cost of Carbon
As countries around the world work to develop policies to address climate change, guidance on the economic valuation of greenhouse gas emissions will be important in determining the scale of climate change action. In the August 20 issue of Science on the social cost of carbon (SCC) for climate policy, Joseph E. Aldy of Harvard University and colleagues argue that climate change measures should explicitly incorporate the benefits of avoiding climate change damage.
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Pick Up366. Investing in Resilient Food Systems in the Most Vulnerable Regions
In August 2021, Nature Food published an article on the critical need to invest in resilient food systems, especially in the most vulnerable regions. Reversing the growing food security crisis will require deliberate targeting of vulnerable areas and a shift to equitable, sustainable and healthy food systems.
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Pick Up365. Integrated rice and beef production systems are effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions － Assessing the environmental impact in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam －
JIRCAS, in collaboration with the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), the University of Miyazaki, and Can Tho University in Vietnam, conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental impacts of separated rice and beef production systems and an integrated system in the Mekong Delta. It was found that the rice-beef-biogas can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption, and also reduce the potential for eutrophication.
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Pick Up364. Towards the UN Food Systems Summit
The United Nations Food Systems Summit will be held in New York City on September 23, 2021 in parallel with the United Nations General Assembly, where international discussions on the food system will be held. To help you understand the agenda of the UN Food Systems Summit, here is a list of Pick Up articles on issues surrounding the food system transformation theory and global issues affecting the food system for your review. -
Pick Up363. Predicting Growth Environments from Tree Leaf Morphology 一 Towards Predicting the Impacts of Climate Change
Tropical forests are known to be hotspots of tree diversity on earth, and it is known that the species found vary greatly depending on soil, elevation, and other factors. However, the morphology and function of tree species that would appear in which environment has not been well understood. Research conducted at Mount Kinabalu (4,095 m above sea level) in Borneo, the highest mountain in Southeast Asia, with the University of Sabah, Malaysia, suggests that trees maximize the period of time during which they can photosynthesize in response to multiple environmental stresses such as low temperature, high humidity, and strong winds at high altitudes by developing robust leaves. For this research, Dr. Kawai received the 25th Kira Award of the Japan Society of Tropical Ecology.
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Pick Up362. Climate Change Tipping Point
On August 20, it was reported that rainfall was observed on the top of an iceberg in Greenland from August 14-16 for the first time since observations began in 1950. In the climate change debate, it is said that the Earth is reaching a tipping point where anthropogenic activities are causing massive changes that are increasingly irreversible. -
Pick Up361. Development of Environment-friendly Management System Against Transboundary Plant Pests Based on Ecological Characteristics
In recent years, damage to crops caused by transboundary insect pests has been increasing. In order to control the damage caused by transboundary pests, it is necessary to establish an international cooperative system that includes developing regions. The “Transboundary pest management” project aims to develop environment-friendly control technologies for transboundary pests, which have become a major problem worldwide, in collaboration with research institutes located in countries where transboundary pests occur. In addition, we will present economic evaluation models that will serve as a guideline for the development of efficient integrated pest management technologies in preparation for the emergence of new transboundary pests.
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Pick Up360. Public Opinion Survey on the Need to Protect the Global Commons
In recent years, as anthropogenic economic activities have brought about irreversible crises such as global climate change and environmental destruction, the need for rules and consensus building to sustainably use, manage, and maintain the global commons has been recognized. In August 2021, the Global Commons Alliance released the results of a public opinion survey on the current state of global commons in the G20 countries. Among the key findings, 73% of people believe that the earth is reaching a tipping point due to human activities, and 83% express willingness to protect and restore the global commons. -
Pick Up359. Q&A on the Launch Event of the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook
At the “Launch Event of the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook” held on July 14, 2021 (Pick Up 341), several webinar attendees posted questions addressed to the main speakers, Mr. Holger Matthey, FAO Senior Economist and Dr. Hubertus Gay, OECD Senior Agricultural Policy Analyst at the OECD, as well as to the commentators, Mr. Gen FURUHASHI, Senior Economist at the PRIMAFF, and Dr. Jun FURUYA, Director of the Social Sciences Division of JIRCAS. Here are the questions and corresponding responses from the speakers and commentators. -
Pick Up358. Development of Comprehensive Agricultural Technologies for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaption in Monsoon Asia
Agriculture is a major contributor to climate change through greenhouse gas emissions and is also a heavily impacted economic sector. There is a need to develop and disseminate mitigation technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, as well as adaptation technologies to cope with extreme weather events such as droughts that are becoming more frequent with climate change. On the other hand, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all-solution’ for building sustainable agricultural production that is resilient to climate change, and it is extremely important to take into account the particularities of agricultural production in each country and region. In the project “Development of comprehensive agricultural technologies for climate change mitigation and adaption in Monsoon Asia”, we will develop and implement integrated climate change mitigation and adaptation technologies that will lead to behavioral change among farmers and contribute to the goals of the target countries in the Asian monsoon region. -
Pick Up357. July 2021 is the Hottest Month on Record
On August 13, 2021, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that July 2021 was the hottest month on record since records began 142 years ago. As the IPCC report released last week on August 9 mentions, this confirms the acceleration of climate change caused by anthropogenic activities.
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Pick Up356. Causal Relationship Between Extreme Weather and Climate Change
Extreme phenomena such as heat waves, forest fires and floods in the northern hemisphere were reported from June to July 2021, and even in August, a record-breaking rainfall is predicted in Europe and Japan. Recent progress in climate science has made it possible to elucidate the causal relationship between extreme events and climate change within a few weeks of their occurrence. -
Pick Up355. International Youth Day
International Youth Day (IYD) is a day of celebration established by the United Nations. This year's theme is “Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health” and the young generation is expected to play an important role in building a sustainable society. -
Pick Up354. When Soil Changes, Fertilizer Effectiveness Also Changes ― Towards Fine-tuning of Fertilizer Management―
In rice paddy fields in the tropics, where productivity is low due to nutrient-poor soils, it is desirable to increase crop yields by applying fertilizer. However, fertilizer is an expensive commodity so local farmers hesitate to apply fertilizer unless they can expect a reliable increase in crop yield. JIRCAS has clarified that it is possible to estimate the amount of increase in rice production when fertilizer is applied based on the property of paddy soils in Madagascar, and has also developed a method to easily measure the soil property. These results are expected to contribute to the realization of a fine-tuned fertilizer management based on soil properties and to the improvement of agricultural productivity.
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Pick Up353. Climate Change is Accelerating and Increasing in Intensity －IPCC Report
On August 9, 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) and Working Group I Report (WG1) on the physical science basis of climate change was released. The report states that many of the anomalies observed in recent years have been unprecedented for at least the past 2000 years, and that there is no doubt that greenhouse gas emissions from anthropogenic activities are the cause of the temperature increase. The report also warns that within the next 20 years, we will exceed the Paris Agreement target of limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C. -
Pick Up352. The Future of Biodiversity: A Guide for Global Action by 2030
On July 12, 2021, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Secretariat released a draft of the Global Biodiversity Framework. The framework includes 21 targets for 2030 and provides guidelines for the world to take action.