April 8, 2009

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) launched a series of educational briefings for policymakers around issues such as agriculture and climate change in Washington, D.C., on March 27.

Professors David Wolfe and Art DeGaetano delivered the series’ first presentation, “Agricultural and Natural Resources in a Changing Climate: Tools for Adaptation,” in the House Natural Resources Committee’s hearing room in the Longworth House Office Building. Congress is expected to consider comprehensive legislation addressing climate change by summer, making the briefing timely.

“The old way of doing business where we looked to the past as a guide to the future is failing,” DeGaetano told an audience of nearly 50 staffers from Congress, the executive branch, and administrative agencies.

Federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Science Foundation collect information on climate and its impact, but their systems are incomplete and not well integrated, Wolfe and DeGaetano said. By improving and coordinating monitoring capabilities the government can enhance adaptation efforts. “Monitoring takes the pulse of climate change impacts,” DeGaetano said.

A climatologist, DeGaetano gave examples illustrating the uncertainty and regional variation posed by a changing climate. As the southeastern and southwestern United States face drought, the northeast is witnessing a significant increase in rainfall.

“People may be looking to the northeast for water in the south,” DeGaetano said, adding that the changing weather conditions will likely result in new demands on policymakers.

Climatic variation also causes changes to nature’s calendar, or phenology, the study of recurring plant and animal life cycle events, such as bird migration, insect emergence in the spring, tree fruiting, and plant flowering.

Because of climate change, apples bloom eight days earlier, lilacs blossom four days earlier, and grapes arrive six days sooner than they did in the 1960s, said Wolfe, a plant ecologist. These changes present new questions for agricultural producers who may be relying on outdated data to justify the timing of planting and pesticide application.

By linking models with data, Cornell’s climate change program provides practical and profitable adaptation solutions, such as helping pinpoint the most effective timing for pesticide and fertilizer applications. By blending basic and applied research with education outreach, Cornell is currently developing cost-effective decision tools that optimize yield and minimize environmental impacts.

While posing many challenges, climate change adaptation will involve opportunities for some agricultural businesses, as well. For example, some farmers could take advantage of new crops, such as improved opportunities for grape production in the northeast. But nationally there will be an increase in weeds, invasive species, and diseases of crops and animals for a variety of reasons, including warmer temperatures that enable some pests to overwinter in formerly inhospitable environments. “There will not be a reversal of these trends,” Wolfe cautioned.

To improve adaptation, and develop effective responses to climate change, additional research, environmental monitoring, and modeling are necessary, Wolfe said. Otherwise there will be unintended consequences, such as natural resource degradation, a rise in food or feedstock prices, increases in energy use to cool livestock facilities, and increased agricultural chemical loads to handle expected increases in pests. “Now is the time for policymakers to get ahead of the game,” Wolfe said.

CALS and the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station are sponsoring the educational briefings to help policymakers understand the science of various emerging public policy issues. Additional briefings are planned later this year. --Lori Sonken