Global warming endangers U.S. corn production, study says (Iowa, Illinois hardest hit)

LA Times ^ | 4/10/09 | Jim Tankersley

[NormsRevenge]

Global warming could rob the U.S. economy of $1.4 billion a year in lost corn production alone, a national environmental group estimated in a report released Thursday.

The Environment America study, based on government and university data, projects that warming temperatures will reduce yields of the nation's biggest crop by 3% in the Midwest and the South compared with projected yields without further global warming.

Iowa would be hit hardest, losing $259 million a year in corn revenues, followed by Illinois at $243 million. California, which leads the country in agriculture but doesn't grow much corn, would take an estimated $4.7-million hit.

The study doesn't directly address other crops, but one of its main sources, a 2008 government report on the effects of warming on agriculture and natural resources, suggests that California's signature fruit and vegetable harvests could suffer even more than corn if temperatures rise.

"Corn likes it cool, but global warming is raising temperatures across the nation," said report author Timothy Telleen-Lawton in a news release. "Hotter fields will mean lower yields for corn, and eventually, the rest of agriculture."

Telleen-Lawton said the estimates of revenue loss were tied to expected increases in temperature and carbon dioxide levels that could be reached within the next few decades if steps were not taken quickly to cut the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere.

The report is a direct challenge to other studies, often cited by critics of government efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, that project moderate warming would increase crop yields.

Higher carbon dioxide levels would help plants grow, Princeton University physicist William Happer, a critic of emissions limits,

"Crop yields will continue to increase as CO2 levels go up," he said in submitted testimony, "since we are far from the optimum levels for plant growth."

[Da Coyote]

Bite me. These clowns know about as much science as the Obamaloon.

[blasater1960]

Idiots....better worry about cooling. www.icecap.us

[4rcane]

and how much of that 3% drop is natural and how much is subsidise elimination related

[4Speed]

And what would a new ICE AGE do ?

Anyone seen any sunspots lately ?

[digger48]

Once the arctic thaws, we can grow the corn there.

[Rodm]

These people don’t have a clue!

[yazoo]

I thought we were all going to fry by 2020? What the hell, who needs corn when they are dead?

[SouthTexas]

Tortilla makers and whiskey drinkers hardest hit.

[Brett66]

Just because their computers say it will be warmer doesn’t mean they know what will happen to crop yields.

This is the standard stupidity in these articles, that would be like me saying:

I racked up over 400 points playing Unreal Tournament last night, so I’m an expert marksman!

[dajeeps]

I’ve seen corn grown in sand, in arid conditions. Seems more to me like they are focusing on the trees instead of the forest when talking about the U.S. So we grow corn somwhere else, or grow a different kind in these states. We really don’t need the government involved, the farmers will figure it out.

P.S. : Uncle Sam, butt out!

[suthener]

This is so backward it’s ridiculous. First of all, you can find corn growing all over Alabama, where it’s 95 or 100 degrees in the summer. That destroys the “corn needs cool weather” theory. Then, if there truly were global warming, wouldn’t it be possible to grow corn further north than is possible now? Could there possibly be a net gain of food production with globol warming? Why does everything associated with (the non-existent) global warming have to be negative?

[unkus]

We are going into an Ice Age and I’m worried about people not being to afford to heat their homes in a few years.

Bio fuels are a disaster, too.

[IronJack]

o why are these “reports” always about what WILL happen? Sincwe we’re assured that global warming is a reality, why aren’t these horrors already happening?

And how would a warmer environment and a longer growing season HURT corn yields?

[hinckley buzzard]

Corn likes it cool, but global warming is raising temperatures across the nation

Unbelievable. If corn likes it cool then we are in for (another) bumper crop.

[ETL]

From The Washington Times, January 12, 2009

Obama climate czar has socialist ties
Group sees 'global governance' as solution

by Stephen Dinan

Until last week, Carol M. Browner, President-elect Barack Obama's pick as global warming czar, was listed as one of 14 leaders of a socialist group's Commission for a Sustainable World Society, which calls for "global governance" and says rich countries must shrink their economies to address climate change.

By Thursday, Mrs. Browner's name and biography had been removed from Socialist International's Web page, though a photo of her speaking June 30 to the group's congress in Greece was still available.

lots more...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/12/obama-climate-czar-has-socialist-ties/
_______________________________________________

Obama's "Climate Czar" is on the same page with Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro...

From GreenLeft.org

VENEZUELA: Chavez calls for global offensive for socialism
August 31, 2005

excerpts...

"The environment is suffering damage that could be irreversible — global warming, the greenhouse effect, the melting of the polar ice caps, the rising sea level, hurricanes — with terrible social occurrences that will shake life on this planet."

"I believe this idea has a strong connection with reality. I don't think we have much time. Fidel Castro said in one of his speeches I read not so long ago, 'tomorrow could be too late, let's do now what we need to do'."

"I believe it is time that we take up with courage and clarity a political, social, collective and ideological offensive across the world — a real offensive that permits us to move progressively, over the next years, the next decades, leaving behind the perverse, destructive, destroyer, capitalist model and go forward in constructing the socialist model to avoid barbarism and beyond that the annihilation of life on this planet."

--Hugo Chavez, at the 16th World Festival of Youth and Students, held in Caracas on August 8-15, 2005

http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/640/640p16.htm
_______________________________________________

Here's a Google cache of the Socialist International's page that included Obama's "Climate Czar" Carol Browner. It was found by FReeper, Publius6961....

[LibLieSlayer]

THE FARCE THAT IS global warming WILL ROB AMERICA OF HER WEALTH TO APPEASE LEFTIST ENEMIES OF FREEDOM AND LIBERTY!

LLS

[Oldpuppymax]

Of course this is all based upon the same phoney computer models these clowns have jury-rigged to create the global warming hoax in the first place. But let’s not allow that to get in the way of a good disaster story! So, QUICK...Big Brother must have more power!

[catpuppy]

Global warming could rob the U.S. economy of $1.4 billion a year

Which makes global warming trillions less of a threat to the U.S. economy than the current administration and its hogs gone wild buddies in the Congress.

[VeniVidiVici]

If Global Warming would result in fewer stupid liberals, I’d be all for it.

[steelyourfaith]

Fantasyland.

 

Beam me to Planet Gore !

[Venturer]

If corn likes it cool then we can plant it earlier,harvest it , plant beans during the summer heat and plant another corn crop in the fall. There wont be any winter so we can plant all year long.

[SECURE AMERICA]

Global warming could rob the U.S. economy of $1.4 billion a year in lost corn production alone, a national environmental group estimated in a report released Thursday.

First the can not prove that global warming is currently hapening and if it is, what it is actually doing. That is why they “estimate” the amount ofcost.Just typical agenda driven scare tactics.

[piytar]

“”Corn likes it cool, but global warming is raising temperatures across the nation,” said report author Timothy Telleen-Lawton in a news release. “Hotter fields will mean lower yields for corn, and eventually, the rest of agriculture.””

Utter BS. Warmer equals more crops. Also, it is going to be 29F in Ohio on Easter morning. Where is this “raising temperatures across the nation” occuring? IT ISN’T.

[1010RD]

I am planting buttery popcorn. We figure we’ll eat it right off the stalk as the heat pops it for us. We’ve got a lot of salt stored up too.

[Wonder Warthog]

""Corn likes it cool, but global warming is raising temperatures across the nation," said report author Timothy Telleen-Lawton in a news release. "Hotter fields will mean lower yields for corn, and eventually, the rest of agriculture."

Corn grows just fine in Louisiana, which gets pretty darned hot. And I suspect the 3% decrease ("if" it happens at all, which I doubt) will be more than made up by a longer growing season in the Dakotas and Canada.

[RoadTest]

I’ll just file this under “Global Whining”.

[BILL_C]

http://www.icecap.us/

Excellent link, thanks!

[1010RD]

Global warming could rob the U.S. economy of $1.4 billion a year in lost corn production alone, a national environmental group of known liars looking for government funding and control over your life estimated in a report released Thursday.

Who, but the MSM takes these "reports" seriously. We need to start issuing reports debunking the "reports".

Could, might, maybe, estimated, modeling, I suppose anything is possible, just GW is highly improbable given the science.

[Old Professer]

This from Iowa State University:

“Common corn varieties will not grow below 49o F (9.5o C), grow fastest at 93o F (34o C), will not grow above 115o F (46o C), and die at 118o F (48o C), with growth rate responding to temperature in an “S-shaped” curve between 49o F (9.5o C) and 93o F (34o C) (Bonner and Galston, 1952).

Above 93o F (34o C), the growth rate begins to drop off again. If the temperature rises above 110o F (43.3o C), it drops off very rapidly. That would be true heat stress, a temperature of 110-115o F (43-46o C). Between 50o and 93o F, the crop can grow very well.

Fig. 1.11 Relative growth rate as effected by temperature.

The S-shaped line represents the way a crop develops according to temperature. A straight line might represent the mean or average response, a way to evaluate it simply using growing degree days. The straight line is an approximation. If the temperatures are below 60o F, the crop development in actuality would be considerably less than indicated by the straight line. If the temperature is 80o or 86o F, the actual development of the crop may be greater than the straight line would indicate.

Fig. 1.12 Relative growth rate as approximated by the growing degree day.
The straight line approximation to crop growth is known as a growing degree day model. The growing degree day model begins at 50o F (10o C) and goes up to 86o F (30o C) as a straight line. The growth rate of the crop goes from 0 to 1, from nothing to maximum, as temperature increases from 50o to 86o F. After 86o F, we assume that increased temperature does not have any additional positive effect, but not necessarily a negative effect. The growth rate levels off at that point.

The growing degree day is the expression of this line. If the temperature is below 50o F, there is no growth. If the daily temperature averages 55o F (12o C), some increment of growth would be evident during the 24-hour period. This growth is calculated according to a formula where the maximum temperature and the minimum temperature are averaged less some base temperature. The formula for the growing degree day is the maximum temperature plus the minimum temperature averaged, minus 50:

Equation 1.4

If the daytime high temperature is 70o F and the overnight temperature, 50o F (typical for late May), and you average those and subtract 50, the answer is 10 GDD during the 24-hour period.

If the daytime temperature were 70o F, there were probably 10 growing degree days during the 24-hour period. During a 24-hour period the value can range from 0 to as much as 36, which is the maximum value for growing degree days. Crops cannot develop any faster than that, so that is arbitrarily set as the top value. Seldom would a value of 36 be reached.

There are rules for computing growing degree days:

(1) That 86o F is the highest temperature considered. Why 86o F? The crop has its ideal growth at 93o F. Why not 93o F? Seldom do we have ideal conditions for aeration, for fertility, and for water availability to the crop. As the temperatures get higher, the crop’s demand for water may become higher. At a higher demand for water, the crop may come under water stress. In the Midwest, on the average, water stress begins at about 86o F. So we do not consider 93o F optimum unless everything is perfect. We consider 86o F the optimum temperature for crop growth. So, if the maximum temperature is greater than or equal to 86o F, it is called 86o F.

If the temperature in the day were observed at 90o F, for the purpose of calculating growing degree days, you would say the high temperature was 86o F. If it went up to 95o F, you would say the high temperature was 86o F because the temperature for the developmental growing degree day is not allowed to exceed 86o F.”

[dr huer]

I was born in Illinois in July. My Boston raised 21 year old mother complained about the heat, and her inlaws replied “its good corn growing weather”!

[blam]

Corn likes it cold?

I was just walking in a corn field not five miles from the bay here in Mobile, Alabama...the corn is about four inches high and the temperature is about 80 degrees and will be in the 90's before the corn matures.

[Iowa Granny]

These people know absolutely NOTHING about corn. It takes HEAT to mature corn. A cool summer results in corn maturing at a date later than is typical. Extreme heat at polination time is not good, but once the corn is polinated, heat is a good thing, as long as there is enough moisture.

And CO2 enhances corn development. Should produce better yields, if I understand it correctly.

[Wuli]

“Global warming could rob the U.S.”

These people ARE NOT scientists.

Even if you gave the “global warming” prediction the credit it does NOT deserve, in terms of predicted annual average global temperature, there is NOTHING that can predict that that “average” will be expressed ONLY as higher temperatures everywhere, and much in climate science that says some places will experience colder temperatures and much that says exactly which places will be warmer is not possible to predict.

So, even if you gave the “global warming” prediction the credit it does NOT deserve, in terms of predicted annual average global temperature, that higher average cannot, with any scientific accuracy, be applied to any one particular area, not Iowa or anywhere else.

An average is an average, and ocean currents and air currents and cloud cover and other factors DYNAMICALLY redistribute “temperature” and DO NOT spread it evenly.

Predictions about precise affects in precise locations are no better than looking in a crystal ball.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***”Corn likes it cool, but global warming is raising temperatures across the nation,” said report author Timothy Telleen-Lawton in a news release. “Hotter fields will mean lower yields for corn, and eventually, the rest of agriculture.” ****

And back around 1977 Progressive Farmer magazine said the corn belt would be moving south because of coming ICE AGE!

[sgtyork]

——Corn likes it cool——

These people think they can say anything... They obviously haven’t been in Iowa in August.

Corn is a warm-season crop that requires high temperatures for optimum germination and rapid growth

http://www.ncsu.edu/sustainable/profiles/botcorn.html

The ideal temperature for corn growth is cooler than many may think: 75 to 86 degrees. With a plentiful supply of moisture, corn will tolerate temperatures in the mid 90s.

[cyberbo2004]

So what. 1.4 billion per year? Isn’t that like 10 minutes of government spending in a $3.5+ Trillion budget?

[aruanan]

Global warming endangers U.S. corn production, study says (Iowa, Illinois hardest hit)

Well, I guess they don't have anything to worry about since there hasn't been any global warming since 1998 and is not likely to be any soon thanks to the new negative phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation combined with a very, very quiet sun.

Of course, this could mean that corn farming could be hurt by all sorts of nutty policies put in place on behalf of fighting global warming.

[aruanan]

Telleen-Lawton said the estimates of revenue loss were tied to expected increases in temperature and carbon dioxide levels that could be reached within the next few decades if steps were not taken quickly to cut the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere.

Poor Timmy is one dumb eff.

[aruanan]

Here's a pic of Timmy and a blurb from his page at the Roosevelt Institution:



"Since graduating I've been working with the Frontier Group, the think tank for Environment America and other groups. It has been an amazing opportunity to do research and write policy reports that are deliberate and critical pieces of progressive grassroots campaigns. A New Energy Future is one of my favorites."

[aruanan]

Here's another one that tells us everything we need to know about poor, credulous, reifying Timmy:

"After two years at Frontier Group and an exciting stint campaigning for Obama, I decided to move to DC to focus on passing a global warming cap-and-trade bill in the 111th Congress as Environment America's Global Warming Advocate. It's not going to be as easy as it seemed given election results, but we can't afford to compromise for a bill that doesn't make the cuts science says we need."

[I got the rope]

Timothy Telleen Lawton

LA Times is using a paper written by a liberal trust fund baby that has never held a real job. Does he have any scientific papers to his name.

Policy analyst? More like ...snot nosed punk.

[Arizona Carolyn]

They really do think we are stupid. Here it is the middle of April and it is still snowing in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Minnesota, etc... if anything is endangering the corn crops is we are getting longer and cooler springs...

[I got the rope]

UGHHHHH...this is the dumbest crap I have ever read.

What a waste of time.

Timmy needs to find a real job.

[Elsiejay]

Corn likes it cool???? That’s not what I learned from the Univ.of Wis., Purdue U., and Univ. of Illinois agricultural colleges. These people are nuts.

[blasater1960]

Icecap is really good, I go there everyday....This one is good too.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/

[BIGLOOK]

I wonder...

A late corn harvest might affect some markets and drive the price up.....but then so wlll the bite of produce to ethanol have an effect on fuel here do to shortsighted, micromanaged regulations on fuel.

Mexicans hardest hit.

As an aside.


Historically, cold winters produce bumper crop yields. Although I'm in Hawaii, this has been as it has been everywhere, crops follow weather trends as a survival mechanism.

[Jimmy Valentine's brother]

These people know absolutely NOTHING about corn.

That is a classic statement. And yes, you remember your lessons about photosynthesis.