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Matt Russell, State Food Policy Coordinator at Drake University, was involved in national conversation on climate change earlier today.
Two new reports highlighting the growing threats to Iowa and wider U.S. food security – including both production on the farm and the cost to consumers – will be highlighted during a Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) media briefing at noon Central Thursday (May 1, 2014).
Agriculture and food security issues will be a theme of the National Climate Assessment (NCA) report (due out May 6th) and also is featured in the recently released Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. Both analyses confirm the rising threat that climate change poses to every part of our food system, including crop yields, prices, storage, processing, distribution and even food quality.
Experts, including authors of both the NCA and IPCC reports, will discuss the impacts of climate change on our food supply already being seen and how they will get worse in the future unless carbon pollution is significantly reduced very soon. They will also discuss the need for adaptation in dealing with the impacts.
• Matt Russell, fifth generation Iowa farmer and State Food Policy Project coordinator, Drake University (related video will be available);
• Dr. Eugene S. Takle, convening lead co-author of the agriculture chapter of the NCA report, professor of agricultural meteorology and atmospheric science, and director of the Climate Science Program, Iowa State University;
• Dr. Lewis Ziska, contributing author to the NCA and IPCC reports, and plant physiologist, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture;
• Claire O’Connor, attorney and agricultural water policy analyst, Natural Resources Defense Council, and author of NRDC’s “Soil Matters” report.
A streaming audio replay of the news event will be available as of 4 p.m. on May 1, 2014 at www.nrdc.org.
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 1.4 million members and online activists. Since 1970, the organization’s lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world’s natural resources, public health, and the environment.