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Brits Ready Crops For Global Warming

Posted by Hemos on from the gearing-up-for-a-brave-new-world dept.

Anonymous Coward writes "Not wanting to come up short at the dinner table, British researchers are developing new crops for a dryer, hotter UK. Starting with barley, they're turning genes on and off to help plants overcome their affinity for the country's cool, wet summers."

6 of 83 comments (clear)

  1. Re:One interesting research possibility... by RingDev · · Score: 4, Informative

    It matters on a lot of things. Take South Africa for example. Early European settlers were shocked by the treeless terrain so they spread pine, oak, and other water hungry plants around the country side. Those trees drink a lot more water then the native plants and have cause rivers to dry up to nothing more then trickles. With less water flowing down stream other plant life suffers and the landscape is drying out.

    There are now government programs that are going through cutting back these huge trees. The effects have been amazing. Not only have the rivers started flowing more water, but the native plant life is bouncing back and some of South Africa's unemployed are getting jobs and training.

    -Rick

    --
    "Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
  2. 2 Issues by Sody · · Score: 3, Informative
    Most predictions I have read say that the currents now operating in the Northern Atlantic keep the climate warm and moist. So, colder and drier seem to be the more likely changes. (Not hotter and drier, as the article states.)

    No doubt this type of change could also be accounted for with genetic engineering, but I was under the impression that the British and most Europeans in general were pretty dead set against about "frankenfoods" that had been genetically modified. Does this project really stand a chance of getting off the ground if it depends on this sort of technology?

    As for the slelective breeding option, I'm not convinced that would work, either. Selective cultivation depends on having some sort of genetic variablility in the current population. The more desirable traits are slected for. Current stocks of seed are not terribly genetically diverse, and if they don't mutate fast enough, you may not be left with enough genetic variants to choose from. Also, this type of selection requires a lot of time--something which may or may not be available as the climate changes.

  3. Re:Now hang on a minute... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
    Well, it doesn't have to be one or the other. The original article states:

    If British summers get hotter and drier we will need types of wheat, barley and other crops that flower earlier, like Mediterranean varieties, to beat summer droughts.


    So they are developing crops for summer conditions. The (corrected) link about the effect on the gulf stream, OTOH, states:

    "We know that if the current slows down, it will lead to a drop in temperatures in Britain and northern Europe of a few degrees, but the effect isn't even over the seasons. Most of the cooling would be in the winter, so the biggest impact would be much colder winters,"...

    The final impact of any cooling effect will depend on whether it outweighs the global warming that, paradoxically, is driving it. According to climate modellers, the drop in temperature caused by a slowing of the Atlantic current will, in the long term, be swamped by a more general warming of the atmosphere.


    So, while an interuption in the gulf stream may result in colder UK winters, it may have less of an effect on the summers, which then may be warmer due to general global warming. Lower water temperatures in the north atlantic will also mean less moisture in the air, and a drier climate. So, if you actually take the time to read both of these articles (the original and the second one liked by the AC), you'll find that they are not in conflict at all.

    --

    Debunk the Monk!
  4. Re:Thats good... by maarten_delft · · Score: 5, Informative

    Weather != local climate != global warming!

    Weather is something that cannot be predicted.

    Local climate change, for example in the northern atlantic, is subject of interesting research and interesting scenario's, but a final verdict is stil out.

    Global warming is a fact. The debate is about the amount of warming and the rate of change, not the mechanisms itself anymore. The mechanisms are really well understood. (People still denying the well-documented mechanisms are not scientists)

    What global warming precisely means for different countries is partly a surprise, but some things that are probably at least partly influenced by global warming
    * shift of sea currents
    * shifting patterns of precipitation
    * possibly local cooling effects, certainly if gulf stream slows

    What is certainly a consequence of global warming:
    * rising sea level
    * break up of sea ice
    * shift of climate zones towards the poles

    --
    --[rosso bright]--
  5. Re:Meh... by whoever57 · · Score: 3, Informative
    Whatever happened to old-fashioned selecting crops? If you plant enough of them and grow them for a few years, you'll be able to get seeds that are suited for your area, if I'm not mistaken. Is it just the shortcut factor that makes the GM appealing in this case?
    This seems to be a common mis-conception, especially in the USA. GM allows genes from completely different organisms (including from animals and fish) to be inserted into the plant.

    This is substantially different to cross-polination/natural selection, since the range of genes that can be added using natural methods is limited to essentially similar plants. Ever see a fish mating with a wheat plant?

    --
    The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
  6. Re:Meh... by atherton2 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Selection and plant breeding do allow for plants to be tailored to thierenviroments, but this can and has for most crop varieties taken hudreds if not thousands of years of farmers and breeders selceting and crossing promising lines. The advantages of GM are many and varied: 1. as mentioned earlier you can take a gene from any spiceis and place it into the host, 2. you can break linkage between genes 3. you can alter promation of genes 4. other stuff...I won't go on and on. 5. you can do all off this a hell of alot fatser But as asked above it is mainly the speed factor that makes GM so very appealing.