Brits Ready Crops For Global Warming

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."

Comments

Re:One interesting research possibility...

[RingDev]

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

Re:Now hang on a minute...

[Anonymous Coward]

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!

Re:Thats good...

[maarten_delft]

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