[Vision2020] Documentary "Seed Warriors"

[Ted Moffett]

Fascinating documentary "Seed Warriors" features University of
Washington climate scientist David Battisti, who has published science
relating to anthropogenic climate change impacts on global food
production.

Info about the global seed bank, is at websites below.  Lower down is
info on a paper authored by Battisti in "Science" magazine, on global
food production under global warming:

http://www.linktv.org/programs/seed-warriors

http://www.viewchange.org/videos/seed-warriors

http://seedwarriors.org/en/film/

In the remote Norwegian town of Longyearbyen, just 1000 kilometres
from the North Pole, politicians from around the world came to
celebrate the opening of the world’s first global seed bank. After
years of difficult negotiations and searching for the right spot, this
was deemed to be the safest place on earth. Eventually, 4.5 million
seed samples will be stored in this "Doomsday Vault" and ensure the
continued existence of biodiversity.

But is the dream of global food security achievable? By 2050
temperatures worldwide are expected to rise by at least 2 degrees.
This will result in a 30 per cent drop in production of food crops. By
this time global food demand will have doubled. How will we feed the
world?

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http://www.sciencemag.org/content/323/5911/240.short

Science 9 January 2009:
Vol. 323 no. 5911 pp. 240-244
DOI: 10.1126/science.1164363

Historical Warnings of Future Food Insecurity with Unprecedented Seasonal Heat

David. S. Battisti1 and Rosamond L. Naylor2

Higher growing season temperatures can have dramatic impacts on
agricultural productivity, farm incomes, and food security. We used
observational data and output from 23 global climate models to show a
high probability (>90%) that growing season temperatures in the
tropics and subtropics by the end of the 21st century will exceed the
most extreme seasonal temperatures recorded from 1900 to 2006. In
temperate regions, the hottest seasons on record will represent the
future norm in many locations. We used historical examples to
illustrate the magnitude of damage to food systems caused by extreme
seasonal heat and show that these short-run events could become
long-term trends without sufficient investments in adaptation.
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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett