It's Climate Change I tell'ya!! IT'S CLIMATE CHANGE!!
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How Cloud Seeding Boosts Rainfall – and Why That’s Controversial
Author of the article:Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Laura Millan
Published Apr 17, 2024 • 3 minute read
The United Arab Emirates experienced its heaviest downpour since records began in 1949, Dubai's media office said in a statement.
The United Arab Emirates experienced its heaviest downpour since records began in 1949, Dubai's media office said in a statement.
(Bloomberg) – Humans started using chemicals to supercharge clouds’ capacity to release rain and snow decades ago, but the technology is gaining traction as climate change makes some regions hotter and drier.
While popular in countries including the US and the United Arab Emirates, cloud seeding remains controversial because it can have unintended consequences such as too much rain or increased pollution.
The debate around modifying and controlling the weather, also referred to as geoengineering the planet, has intensified as clean technologies and cuts to greenhouse gas emissions prove insufficient to halt global warming. Those in favor argue that dealing with the climate crisis is so urgent that no option should be left out, while those opposed warn of a lack of regulation, unforeseen side effects and a delay to the energy transition.
What is cloud seeding?
Aircraft or ground generators stimulate existing clouds by injecting them with particles of salt or silver iodide, which form ice crystals that condense into rain or snow, depending on altitudes. Seeding can boost the rainfall from an individual cloud by as much as 20% under optimal conditions, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
Are the heavy rains in Dubai due to cloud seeding?
The UAE has used seeding since 2002 to address water security issues, even though the lack of drainage in many areas can cause flooding. The National Center of Meteorology said it seeded clouds April 14 to April 15 but not April 16.
An extreme rain event flooded Dubai on April 16, triggering flight cancellations, traffic disruptions and school shutdowns. Some videos on social media showed cars being swept off roads, while another showed the ceiling of a shop collapsing as water inundated one of Dubai’s most popular malls. Flight disruptions continued Wednesday at Dubai International Airport, with Emirates suspending passenger check-ins.
How effective is cloud seeding?
Cloud seeding doesn’t work out of thin air because the chemicals must be injected into existing clouds. It has proven successful when it targets rain clouds in mountainous areas — in other words, when it’s aimed at increasing rain. There is mixed scientific evidence concerning its effectiveness on clouds that may not carry rain, in flat regions and during drought, with some researchers suggesting it becomes a political tool in these situations.
Long-term seeding projects have increased the snowpack in targeted areas over the Nevada mountains in the US by about 10% a year, according to research cited by the nonprofit Desert Research Institute. Similar results have been reported in Wyoming’s Snowy Range and Sierra Madre Range, as well as in Australia’s Snowy Mountains.
What is the history of cloud seeding?
Cloud seeding was developed during the 1940s and became popular in the US during the 1950s and 1960s as farmers, hydropower companies and ski resorts benefitted from additional precipitation. But it fell out of favor over the next decades as government funding dried up following revelations the US deployed a secret military seeding program during the Vietnam War. In 1977, the US, Russia, India and some European nations signed the Environmental Modification Convention banning weather modification techniques for military purposes.
More countries are exploring cloud seeding as accelerating climate change worsens the struggle for water. It’s used in western US states and European countries including France and Spain. China uses it regularly for irrigation purposes and also to regulate rainfall in Beijing, including during the 2008 Olympics.
Is cloud seeding dangerous?
The technology’s increasing use led to the formation of a team on weather modification within the World Meteorological Organization, which warned in a 2023 report about a lack of knowledge concerning the technology’s impacts.
Other concerns include altering existing weather patterns at a local level, which can lead to undesired conditions such as hail in agriculture areas. WMO experts also warn that chemicals such as silver iodide are toxic, and their use should be monitored for health and environmental effects.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Laura Millan
Published Apr 17, 2024 • 3 minute read
The United Arab Emirates experienced its heaviest downpour since records began in 1949, Dubai's media office said in a statement.
The United Arab Emirates experienced its heaviest downpour since records began in 1949, Dubai's media office said in a statement.
(Bloomberg) – Humans started using chemicals to supercharge clouds’ capacity to release rain and snow decades ago, but the technology is gaining traction as climate change makes some regions hotter and drier.
While popular in countries including the US and the United Arab Emirates, cloud seeding remains controversial because it can have unintended consequences such as too much rain or increased pollution.
The debate around modifying and controlling the weather, also referred to as geoengineering the planet, has intensified as clean technologies and cuts to greenhouse gas emissions prove insufficient to halt global warming. Those in favor argue that dealing with the climate crisis is so urgent that no option should be left out, while those opposed warn of a lack of regulation, unforeseen side effects and a delay to the energy transition.
What is cloud seeding?
Aircraft or ground generators stimulate existing clouds by injecting them with particles of salt or silver iodide, which form ice crystals that condense into rain or snow, depending on altitudes. Seeding can boost the rainfall from an individual cloud by as much as 20% under optimal conditions, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
Are the heavy rains in Dubai due to cloud seeding?
The UAE has used seeding since 2002 to address water security issues, even though the lack of drainage in many areas can cause flooding. The National Center of Meteorology said it seeded clouds April 14 to April 15 but not April 16.
An extreme rain event flooded Dubai on April 16, triggering flight cancellations, traffic disruptions and school shutdowns. Some videos on social media showed cars being swept off roads, while another showed the ceiling of a shop collapsing as water inundated one of Dubai’s most popular malls. Flight disruptions continued Wednesday at Dubai International Airport, with Emirates suspending passenger check-ins.
How effective is cloud seeding?
Cloud seeding doesn’t work out of thin air because the chemicals must be injected into existing clouds. It has proven successful when it targets rain clouds in mountainous areas — in other words, when it’s aimed at increasing rain. There is mixed scientific evidence concerning its effectiveness on clouds that may not carry rain, in flat regions and during drought, with some researchers suggesting it becomes a political tool in these situations.
Long-term seeding projects have increased the snowpack in targeted areas over the Nevada mountains in the US by about 10% a year, according to research cited by the nonprofit Desert Research Institute. Similar results have been reported in Wyoming’s Snowy Range and Sierra Madre Range, as well as in Australia’s Snowy Mountains.
What is the history of cloud seeding?
Cloud seeding was developed during the 1940s and became popular in the US during the 1950s and 1960s as farmers, hydropower companies and ski resorts benefitted from additional precipitation. But it fell out of favor over the next decades as government funding dried up following revelations the US deployed a secret military seeding program during the Vietnam War. In 1977, the US, Russia, India and some European nations signed the Environmental Modification Convention banning weather modification techniques for military purposes.
More countries are exploring cloud seeding as accelerating climate change worsens the struggle for water. It’s used in western US states and European countries including France and Spain. China uses it regularly for irrigation purposes and also to regulate rainfall in Beijing, including during the 2008 Olympics.
Is cloud seeding dangerous?
The technology’s increasing use led to the formation of a team on weather modification within the World Meteorological Organization, which warned in a 2023 report about a lack of knowledge concerning the technology’s impacts.
Other concerns include altering existing weather patterns at a local level, which can lead to undesired conditions such as hail in agriculture areas. WMO experts also warn that chemicals such as silver iodide are toxic, and their use should be monitored for health and environmental effects.
How Cloud Seeding Boosts Rainfall – and Why That’s Controversial
Humans started using chemicals to supercharge clouds’ capacity to release rain and snow decades ago, but the technology is gaining traction.
We need some of that here on the wet coast .How Cloud Seeding Boosts Rainfall – and Why That’s Controversial
Author of the article:Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Laura Millan
Published Apr 17, 2024 • 3 minute read
The United Arab Emirates experienced its heaviest downpour since records began in 1949, Dubai's media office said in a statement.
The United Arab Emirates experienced its heaviest downpour since records began in 1949, Dubai's media office said in a statement.
(Bloomberg) – Humans started using chemicals to supercharge clouds’ capacity to release rain and snow decades ago, but the technology is gaining traction as climate change makes some regions hotter and drier.
While popular in countries including the US and the United Arab Emirates, cloud seeding remains controversial because it can have unintended consequences such as too much rain or increased pollution.
The debate around modifying and controlling the weather, also referred to as geoengineering the planet, has intensified as clean technologies and cuts to greenhouse gas emissions prove insufficient to halt global warming. Those in favor argue that dealing with the climate crisis is so urgent that no option should be left out, while those opposed warn of a lack of regulation, unforeseen side effects and a delay to the energy transition.
What is cloud seeding?
Aircraft or ground generators stimulate existing clouds by injecting them with particles of salt or silver iodide, which form ice crystals that condense into rain or snow, depending on altitudes. Seeding can boost the rainfall from an individual cloud by as much as 20% under optimal conditions, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
Are the heavy rains in Dubai due to cloud seeding?
The UAE has used seeding since 2002 to address water security issues, even though the lack of drainage in many areas can cause flooding. The National Center of Meteorology said it seeded clouds April 14 to April 15 but not April 16.
An extreme rain event flooded Dubai on April 16, triggering flight cancellations, traffic disruptions and school shutdowns. Some videos on social media showed cars being swept off roads, while another showed the ceiling of a shop collapsing as water inundated one of Dubai’s most popular malls. Flight disruptions continued Wednesday at Dubai International Airport, with Emirates suspending passenger check-ins.
How effective is cloud seeding?
Cloud seeding doesn’t work out of thin air because the chemicals must be injected into existing clouds. It has proven successful when it targets rain clouds in mountainous areas — in other words, when it’s aimed at increasing rain. There is mixed scientific evidence concerning its effectiveness on clouds that may not carry rain, in flat regions and during drought, with some researchers suggesting it becomes a political tool in these situations.
Long-term seeding projects have increased the snowpack in targeted areas over the Nevada mountains in the US by about 10% a year, according to research cited by the nonprofit Desert Research Institute. Similar results have been reported in Wyoming’s Snowy Range and Sierra Madre Range, as well as in Australia’s Snowy Mountains.
What is the history of cloud seeding?
Cloud seeding was developed during the 1940s and became popular in the US during the 1950s and 1960s as farmers, hydropower companies and ski resorts benefitted from additional precipitation. But it fell out of favor over the next decades as government funding dried up following revelations the US deployed a secret military seeding program during the Vietnam War. In 1977, the US, Russia, India and some European nations signed the Environmental Modification Convention banning weather modification techniques for military purposes.
More countries are exploring cloud seeding as accelerating climate change worsens the struggle for water. It’s used in western US states and European countries including France and Spain. China uses it regularly for irrigation purposes and also to regulate rainfall in Beijing, including during the 2008 Olympics.
Is cloud seeding dangerous?
The technology’s increasing use led to the formation of a team on weather modification within the World Meteorological Organization, which warned in a 2023 report about a lack of knowledge concerning the technology’s impacts.
Other concerns include altering existing weather patterns at a local level, which can lead to undesired conditions such as hail in agriculture areas. WMO experts also warn that chemicals such as silver iodide are toxic, and their use should be monitored for health and environmental effects.
How Cloud Seeding Boosts Rainfall – and Why That’s Controversial
Humans started using chemicals to supercharge clouds’ capacity to release rain and snow decades ago, but the technology is gaining traction.
We got over 2 feet of rain on the island so far this year. More on the north end.
A Pakistani national who first came to Canada in 2019 on a study permit, he’s been arrested at least 10 times, convicted of mischief charges, and has been pretty open about his role in leading a foreign-funded “rebellion” against the Canadian government.
Haq wasn’t facing deportation because of his arrests or conviction for mischief (???). Rather it was due to violations of his study permit. Haq was away from class for long periods, and at one point was put on academic probation by Simon Fraser University.
Over the last five years, Haq has been at the centre of two of the province’s most extreme environmental groups: Extinction Rebellion and Save Old Growth, of which he’s a co-founder.
Between them, the groups have been the singular cause of activist-led disruptions throughout the Lower Mainland through their chosen tactics of blockading roads, bridges and other infrastructure. They also both carry demands that cannot feasibly be met.
A mischief case brought against him in 2023 detailed Haq’s central role in extended closures of bridges, intersections and — in October 2021 — a two-hour blockade of Vancouver International Airport. In July of that year, court documents said that Haq helped organize a road closure that “interfered with emergency vehicles trying to access St. Paul’s Hospital.” (Wasn’t this blamed on the Trucker convoy early on?)
He’s even admitted that his actions were foreign funded. In a 2022 New York Times interview, he said he’d received $170,000 from the California-based Climate Emergency Fund.
And now, after a years-long effort by the Canada Border Services Agency to secure Haq’s deportation, the 23-year-old’s removal was stayed at the 11th hour, potentially due to the intervention of the Trudeau government.
apple.news
Haq had been scheduled for deportation by no later than Monday, April 22 — and a last-minute appeal had already been rejected by a federal judge.
But on Friday, Haq received a cryptic call from the office of Joyce Murray — the Liberal MP for his riding of Vancouver Quadra (???)— telling him to stay by his phone. He was soon contacted by a CBSA case officer telling him he could stay in the country.
Haq’s lawyer, Randall Cohn, told Glacier that he suspected someone in the federal cabinet was “listening and paying attention to the timing and decided to step in.” (????)
Haq wasn’t facing deportation because of his arrests or conviction for mischief (???). Rather it was due to violations of his study permit. Haq was away from class for long periods, and at one point was put on academic probation by Simon Fraser University.
Over the last five years, Haq has been at the centre of two of the province’s most extreme environmental groups: Extinction Rebellion and Save Old Growth, of which he’s a co-founder.
Between them, the groups have been the singular cause of activist-led disruptions throughout the Lower Mainland through their chosen tactics of blockading roads, bridges and other infrastructure. They also both carry demands that cannot feasibly be met.
A mischief case brought against him in 2023 detailed Haq’s central role in extended closures of bridges, intersections and — in October 2021 — a two-hour blockade of Vancouver International Airport. In July of that year, court documents said that Haq helped organize a road closure that “interfered with emergency vehicles trying to access St. Paul’s Hospital.” (Wasn’t this blamed on the Trucker convoy early on?)
He’s even admitted that his actions were foreign funded. In a 2022 New York Times interview, he said he’d received $170,000 from the California-based Climate Emergency Fund.
And now, after a years-long effort by the Canada Border Services Agency to secure Haq’s deportation, the 23-year-old’s removal was stayed at the 11th hour, potentially due to the intervention of the Trudeau government.
FIRST READING: Trudeau government intervenes at last minute to save serial blockader from deportation — National Post
A Pakistani national, Zain Haq has been at the centre of activist blockades of bridges, ferry terminals, highways and even the Vancouver airport
But on Friday, Haq received a cryptic call from the office of Joyce Murray — the Liberal MP for his riding of Vancouver Quadra (???)— telling him to stay by his phone. He was soon contacted by a CBSA case officer telling him he could stay in the country.
Haq’s lawyer, Randall Cohn, told Glacier that he suspected someone in the federal cabinet was “listening and paying attention to the timing and decided to step in.” (????)
Last edited by a moderator:
Eco-terrorist just like Gilbutt.A Pakistani national who first came to Canada in 2019 on a study permit, he’s been arrested at least 10 times, convicted of mischief charges, and has been pretty open about his role in leading a foreign-funded “rebellion” against the Canadian government.
Haq wasn’t facing deportation because of his arrests or conviction for mischief (???). Rather it was due to violations of his study permit. Haq was away from class for long periods, and at one point was put on academic probation by Simon Fraser University.
Over the last five years, Haq has been at the centre of two of the province’s most extreme environmental groups: Extinction Rebellion and Save Old Growth, of which he’s a co-founder.
Between them, the groups have been the singular cause of activist-led disruptions throughout the Lower Mainland through their chosen tactics of blockading roads, bridges and other infrastructure. They also both carry demands that cannot feasibly be met.
A mischief case brought against him in 2023 detailed Haq’s central role in extended closures of bridges, intersections and — in October 2021 — a two-hour blockade of Vancouver International Airport. In July of that year, court documents said that Haq helped organize a road closure that “interfered with emergency vehicles trying to access St. Paul’s Hospital.” (Wasn’t this blamed on the Trucker convoy early on?)
He’s even admitted that his actions were foreign funded. In a 2022 New York Times interview, he said he’d received $170,000 from the California-based Climate Emergency Fund.
And now, after a years-long effort by the Canada Border Services Agency to secure Haq’s deportation, the 23-year-old’s removal was stayed at the 11th hour, potentially due to the intervention of the Trudeau government.
Haq had been scheduled for deportation by no later than Monday, April 22 — and a last-minute appeal had already been rejected by a federal judge.FIRST READING: Trudeau government intervenes at last minute to save serial blockader from deportation — National Post
A Pakistani national, Zain Haq has been at the centre of activist blockades of bridges, ferry terminals, highways and even the Vancouver airport
But on Friday, Haq received a cryptic call from the office of Joyce Murray — the Liberal MP for his riding of Vancouver Quadra (???)— telling him to stay by his phone. He was soon contacted by a CBSA case officer telling him he could stay in the country.
Haq’s lawyer, Randall Cohn, told Glacier that he suspected someone in the federal cabinet was “listening and paying attention to the timing and decided to step in.” (????)
Eco-terrorist is as eco-terrorist does.
Is Biden About To Declare Himself Climate Dictator?
Declaring a “climate emergency” would put the U.S. right on the path to a Venezuela-style future.
issuesinsights.com
Is Biden About To Declare Himself Climate Dictator?
Declaring a “climate emergency” would put the U.S. right on the path to a Venezuela-style future.
As the climate changes, so too do Canadians’ farm fields and dinner tables
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Published Apr 26, 2024 • 7 minute read
Canada’s farm fields are in the midst of a transformation.
As the country rapidly warms from human-caused climate change, farmers are being pushed to reconsider conventional wisdom about what can and can’t survive in this northern climate.
Crops are getting planted later in the year than ever as killer winter frost delays its arrival in Ontario. Berries in British Columbia devastated by recent climate-driven extreme heat and floods are moving into the controlled climates of vertical farms.
A spice commonly found in India is finding a new home in the Maritimes. Tropical fruits are springing from a greenhouse on the Prairies.
In fields and greenhouses, farmers are also seeding solutions to the generational challenge of climate change. Their success will not only bear on Canada’s agricultural sector, but its dinner table.
Here is a look at some of the ways climate change is changing Canadian agriculture:
Saffron finds a home in Nova Scotia
Saffron, a spice so expensive that it has been dubbed red gold, is traditionally grown in Iran, India, Afghanistan and Spain, among a handful of countries.
But when Matthew Roy moved from New Hampshire to begin farming in Nova Scotia in 2020, he identified saffron as a promising crop, in part because of the changing climate and saffron’s short growing season.
The owner of Coastal Grove Farm began planting the crocus bulbs that yield saffron on his property in Upper Port La Tour, N.S., that August. By mid-November, the 15,000 bulbs had yielded about 78 grams of the spice.
“We knew that it is going to be getting warmer here in Nova Scotia,” Roy said in an interview. “And we figured that we could bring in two new crops to the province, the first one being tea and the second one being saffron.”
In his second year, Roy harvested 172 grams of saffron. In 2022, it was 342 grams. But last year it fell to 66 grams, which Roy said could be because of a wet summer. One hundred grams of the spice fetches about $600, so Roy is not yet getting rich off saffron, but he is optimistic that production will increase.
Margaret Skinner, a research professor at the University of Vermont, studies the plant and has been working with Roy on his saffron farm. While warming temperatures make Nova Scotia more hospitable for saffron, other climate effects such as drought and flooding could be harmful, she said.
Bashir Ahmad Allie, head of the saffron research station at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology in India, is not surprised that parts of Canada are able to cultivate saffron, considering how climate is changing across the globe. The spice is now grown in parts of Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.
Allie noted that the climate change that has made saffron cultivation viable in Canada has had the opposite effect in the regions of India where it is grown. Jammu and Kashmir in India has been experiencing erratic temperatures, floods, heat waves and snow, which have caused “havoc” for saffron producers in the region, he said.
– By Hina Alam in Fredericton.
As frost delays, Ontario canola farmers plant winter crop
In Ontario, global warming has delayed the arrival of so-called “killing frost” and has allowed some farmers to explore new crops that can outlive the winter season.
Jennifer Doelman says on her farm in Renfrew County, located near the Ottawa River, she has been planting canola during the colder months, in addition to growing typical springtime canola.
“Winter canola was never something we could dream of,” says Doelman, who is also a bee-keeper.
“And we’re growing now, as a response to climate change, winter canola … because our killing frost isn’t happening until November.”
Doelman says the frost used to appear in October, when temperatures dropped below 0 C for several hours at a time and killed newly planted crops.
But she hasn’t seen the frost appear until November for the last three years.
Doelman says that delay has given farmers the opportunity to plant canola in September, immediately after the typical harvest season for spring canola. The winter crop is then able to grow strong enough to withstand the frost when it arrives in November.
“Even though they’re planted in September, they get big enough to be able to overwinter under the snow,” she says.
She says the winter canola is harvested in July and is used for canola oil and biodiesel.
“What’s left over once they crush it is really, really high-quality livestock feed,” she said.
Being able to grow crops during the winter season has helped with balance for farmers, who usually have a “mad dash” during the typical five-month summer and spring season to harvest in the fall, Doelman says.
A winter crop “spreads out your workload, it spreads out your risk,” she says.
– By Fakiha Baig in Toronto.
As farmers grapple with climate-driven weather extremes, berry crops shelter indoors
By the time fresh blueberries hit Canadian grocery shelves in the winter, they may already be a month old after coming from countries such as Mexico and Peru.
A team of researchers from Simon Fraser University aims to give consumers a fresh, sustainable, locally grown option with a project that demonstrates how blueberries can be grown indoors during the winter in British Columbia.
Biological sciences professor Jim Mattsson is leading the research. He says the berries grown in a tightly controlled indoor environment are fresher and taste better than their imported counterparts. The process uses less water, keeps pesticide use to a minimum, and the indoor crops boast a smaller carbon footprint, he adds.
Canada’s typical blueberry season runs from July to September, with consumers relying on imports for non-frozen berries throughout the winter.
In B.C., the industry has been grappling with climate-related challenges in recent years, including heat waves, cold snaps, and widespread flooding in 2021.
Mattsson says growing indoors avoids such stressors, while the temperature and light can be controlled to prevent the plants from entering dormancy each winter.
“It has been shown that you can get more than one harvest per year,” he says.” You can get, on the same plants, two harvests per year.”
The process is an example of “vertical farming,” where plants are positioned in rows on shelves stacked on top of each other, Mattsson says.
Water and nutrients may be recycled for further use, he says, and recent technological advancements allow the recycling of heat from LED lighting.
The researchers are currently working with B.C.-based agritech company BeriTech Inc. on the first round of growth trials. After that, Mattsson says they will compete for a $5-million grant to build a prototype facility and scale the project up.
The work also involves exploring how berries grown indoors in Canada can compete with imports from an economic perspective, he says.
Mattsson adds that BeriTech is interested in exploring how the research on blueberries could be applied to other crops, such as raspberries and blackberries.
– By Brenna Owen in Burnaby, B.C.
Saskatoon bananas? Greenhouse crop harvested in December
Dean Sopher says he’s pessimistic about the world’s future.
It’s why he bought land near Saskatoon and built his own homestead, growing crops and raising livestock to meet his family’s needs.
But Sopher isn’t gardening typical Prairie produce. He’s growing bananas, oranges, lemons, limes, passion fruit, guava and figs in a greenhouse he built.
“It’s real food, eating fresh,” Sopher said in an interview on his farm near Saskatchewan’s largest city.
Concerned about worsening food quality and inflation, Sopher says he built his greenhouse about three years ago and harvested his first banana crop in December. He says the roughly $60,000 greenhouse was designed to optimize the heat and light from the sun.
“Once you have the structure properly designed, insulated, and well built, you can grow pretty much anything here,” he said.
While Sopher has moved the needle on what can grow on the Prairies, researchers say it’s unlikely tropical fruits will sprout from open fields in the future as the climate changes.
However, they say farmers may instead grow other types of grains and legumes, such as corn and soybeans, in regions where that’s currently not feasible.
In a scientific literature review, researchers at the University of Alberta found the Prairies have become hotter and drier over the last 120 years. There has also been less snowfall and more disruptive weather, the researchers found.
While it could mean more corn and soy in some areas, higher temperatures may cause some pests to flourish and create additional challenges to producers.
Associate professor Emmanuel Mapfumo at Concordia University of Edmonton said farmers are resilient and will continue to adapt.
Some strategies include zero tillage, rotating crops, growing varieties that are drought resistant and changing seeding rates.
“There’s no one solution,” he said.
– By Jeremy Simes in Saskatoon.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Published Apr 26, 2024 • 7 minute read
Canada’s farm fields are in the midst of a transformation.
As the country rapidly warms from human-caused climate change, farmers are being pushed to reconsider conventional wisdom about what can and can’t survive in this northern climate.
Crops are getting planted later in the year than ever as killer winter frost delays its arrival in Ontario. Berries in British Columbia devastated by recent climate-driven extreme heat and floods are moving into the controlled climates of vertical farms.
A spice commonly found in India is finding a new home in the Maritimes. Tropical fruits are springing from a greenhouse on the Prairies.
In fields and greenhouses, farmers are also seeding solutions to the generational challenge of climate change. Their success will not only bear on Canada’s agricultural sector, but its dinner table.
Here is a look at some of the ways climate change is changing Canadian agriculture:
Saffron finds a home in Nova Scotia
Saffron, a spice so expensive that it has been dubbed red gold, is traditionally grown in Iran, India, Afghanistan and Spain, among a handful of countries.
But when Matthew Roy moved from New Hampshire to begin farming in Nova Scotia in 2020, he identified saffron as a promising crop, in part because of the changing climate and saffron’s short growing season.
The owner of Coastal Grove Farm began planting the crocus bulbs that yield saffron on his property in Upper Port La Tour, N.S., that August. By mid-November, the 15,000 bulbs had yielded about 78 grams of the spice.
“We knew that it is going to be getting warmer here in Nova Scotia,” Roy said in an interview. “And we figured that we could bring in two new crops to the province, the first one being tea and the second one being saffron.”
In his second year, Roy harvested 172 grams of saffron. In 2022, it was 342 grams. But last year it fell to 66 grams, which Roy said could be because of a wet summer. One hundred grams of the spice fetches about $600, so Roy is not yet getting rich off saffron, but he is optimistic that production will increase.
Margaret Skinner, a research professor at the University of Vermont, studies the plant and has been working with Roy on his saffron farm. While warming temperatures make Nova Scotia more hospitable for saffron, other climate effects such as drought and flooding could be harmful, she said.
Bashir Ahmad Allie, head of the saffron research station at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology in India, is not surprised that parts of Canada are able to cultivate saffron, considering how climate is changing across the globe. The spice is now grown in parts of Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.
Allie noted that the climate change that has made saffron cultivation viable in Canada has had the opposite effect in the regions of India where it is grown. Jammu and Kashmir in India has been experiencing erratic temperatures, floods, heat waves and snow, which have caused “havoc” for saffron producers in the region, he said.
– By Hina Alam in Fredericton.
As frost delays, Ontario canola farmers plant winter crop
In Ontario, global warming has delayed the arrival of so-called “killing frost” and has allowed some farmers to explore new crops that can outlive the winter season.
Jennifer Doelman says on her farm in Renfrew County, located near the Ottawa River, she has been planting canola during the colder months, in addition to growing typical springtime canola.
“Winter canola was never something we could dream of,” says Doelman, who is also a bee-keeper.
“And we’re growing now, as a response to climate change, winter canola … because our killing frost isn’t happening until November.”
Doelman says the frost used to appear in October, when temperatures dropped below 0 C for several hours at a time and killed newly planted crops.
But she hasn’t seen the frost appear until November for the last three years.
Doelman says that delay has given farmers the opportunity to plant canola in September, immediately after the typical harvest season for spring canola. The winter crop is then able to grow strong enough to withstand the frost when it arrives in November.
“Even though they’re planted in September, they get big enough to be able to overwinter under the snow,” she says.
She says the winter canola is harvested in July and is used for canola oil and biodiesel.
“What’s left over once they crush it is really, really high-quality livestock feed,” she said.
Being able to grow crops during the winter season has helped with balance for farmers, who usually have a “mad dash” during the typical five-month summer and spring season to harvest in the fall, Doelman says.
A winter crop “spreads out your workload, it spreads out your risk,” she says.
– By Fakiha Baig in Toronto.
As farmers grapple with climate-driven weather extremes, berry crops shelter indoors
By the time fresh blueberries hit Canadian grocery shelves in the winter, they may already be a month old after coming from countries such as Mexico and Peru.
A team of researchers from Simon Fraser University aims to give consumers a fresh, sustainable, locally grown option with a project that demonstrates how blueberries can be grown indoors during the winter in British Columbia.
Biological sciences professor Jim Mattsson is leading the research. He says the berries grown in a tightly controlled indoor environment are fresher and taste better than their imported counterparts. The process uses less water, keeps pesticide use to a minimum, and the indoor crops boast a smaller carbon footprint, he adds.
Canada’s typical blueberry season runs from July to September, with consumers relying on imports for non-frozen berries throughout the winter.
In B.C., the industry has been grappling with climate-related challenges in recent years, including heat waves, cold snaps, and widespread flooding in 2021.
Mattsson says growing indoors avoids such stressors, while the temperature and light can be controlled to prevent the plants from entering dormancy each winter.
“It has been shown that you can get more than one harvest per year,” he says.” You can get, on the same plants, two harvests per year.”
The process is an example of “vertical farming,” where plants are positioned in rows on shelves stacked on top of each other, Mattsson says.
Water and nutrients may be recycled for further use, he says, and recent technological advancements allow the recycling of heat from LED lighting.
The researchers are currently working with B.C.-based agritech company BeriTech Inc. on the first round of growth trials. After that, Mattsson says they will compete for a $5-million grant to build a prototype facility and scale the project up.
The work also involves exploring how berries grown indoors in Canada can compete with imports from an economic perspective, he says.
Mattsson adds that BeriTech is interested in exploring how the research on blueberries could be applied to other crops, such as raspberries and blackberries.
– By Brenna Owen in Burnaby, B.C.
Saskatoon bananas? Greenhouse crop harvested in December
Dean Sopher says he’s pessimistic about the world’s future.
It’s why he bought land near Saskatoon and built his own homestead, growing crops and raising livestock to meet his family’s needs.
But Sopher isn’t gardening typical Prairie produce. He’s growing bananas, oranges, lemons, limes, passion fruit, guava and figs in a greenhouse he built.
“It’s real food, eating fresh,” Sopher said in an interview on his farm near Saskatchewan’s largest city.
Concerned about worsening food quality and inflation, Sopher says he built his greenhouse about three years ago and harvested his first banana crop in December. He says the roughly $60,000 greenhouse was designed to optimize the heat and light from the sun.
“Once you have the structure properly designed, insulated, and well built, you can grow pretty much anything here,” he said.
While Sopher has moved the needle on what can grow on the Prairies, researchers say it’s unlikely tropical fruits will sprout from open fields in the future as the climate changes.
However, they say farmers may instead grow other types of grains and legumes, such as corn and soybeans, in regions where that’s currently not feasible.
In a scientific literature review, researchers at the University of Alberta found the Prairies have become hotter and drier over the last 120 years. There has also been less snowfall and more disruptive weather, the researchers found.
While it could mean more corn and soy in some areas, higher temperatures may cause some pests to flourish and create additional challenges to producers.
Associate professor Emmanuel Mapfumo at Concordia University of Edmonton said farmers are resilient and will continue to adapt.
Some strategies include zero tillage, rotating crops, growing varieties that are drought resistant and changing seeding rates.
“There’s no one solution,” he said.
– By Jeremy Simes in Saskatoon.
As the climate changes, so too do Canadians’ farm fields and dinner tables
Canada's farm fields are in the midst of a transformation.
So the obvious is finally being observed that climate has always & will always change no matter what we do as humans. Gesh, how could we have missed this observation over the years? Huh!As the climate changes, so too do Canadians’ farm fields and dinner tables
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Published Apr 26, 2024 • 7 minute read
Canada’s farm fields are in the midst of a transformation.
As the country rapidly warms from human-caused climate change, farmers are being pushed to reconsider conventional wisdom about what can and can’t survive in this northern climate.
Crops are getting planted later in the year than ever as killer winter frost delays its arrival in Ontario. Berries in British Columbia devastated by recent climate-driven extreme heat and floods are moving into the controlled climates of vertical farms.
A spice commonly found in India is finding a new home in the Maritimes. Tropical fruits are springing from a greenhouse on the Prairies.
In fields and greenhouses, farmers are also seeding solutions to the generational challenge of climate change. Their success will not only bear on Canada’s agricultural sector, but its dinner table.
Here is a look at some of the ways climate change is changing Canadian agriculture:
Saffron finds a home in Nova Scotia
Saffron, a spice so expensive that it has been dubbed red gold, is traditionally grown in Iran, India, Afghanistan and Spain, among a handful of countries.
But when Matthew Roy moved from New Hampshire to begin farming in Nova Scotia in 2020, he identified saffron as a promising crop, in part because of the changing climate and saffron’s short growing season.
The owner of Coastal Grove Farm began planting the crocus bulbs that yield saffron on his property in Upper Port La Tour, N.S., that August. By mid-November, the 15,000 bulbs had yielded about 78 grams of the spice.
“We knew that it is going to be getting warmer here in Nova Scotia,” Roy said in an interview. “And we figured that we could bring in two new crops to the province, the first one being tea and the second one being saffron.”
In his second year, Roy harvested 172 grams of saffron. In 2022, it was 342 grams. But last year it fell to 66 grams, which Roy said could be because of a wet summer. One hundred grams of the spice fetches about $600, so Roy is not yet getting rich off saffron, but he is optimistic that production will increase.
Margaret Skinner, a research professor at the University of Vermont, studies the plant and has been working with Roy on his saffron farm. While warming temperatures make Nova Scotia more hospitable for saffron, other climate effects such as drought and flooding could be harmful, she said.
Bashir Ahmad Allie, head of the saffron research station at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology in India, is not surprised that parts of Canada are able to cultivate saffron, considering how climate is changing across the globe. The spice is now grown in parts of Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.
Allie noted that the climate change that has made saffron cultivation viable in Canada has had the opposite effect in the regions of India where it is grown. Jammu and Kashmir in India has been experiencing erratic temperatures, floods, heat waves and snow, which have caused “havoc” for saffron producers in the region, he said.
– By Hina Alam in Fredericton.
As frost delays, Ontario canola farmers plant winter crop
In Ontario, global warming has delayed the arrival of so-called “killing frost” and has allowed some farmers to explore new crops that can outlive the winter season.
Jennifer Doelman says on her farm in Renfrew County, located near the Ottawa River, she has been planting canola during the colder months, in addition to growing typical springtime canola.
“Winter canola was never something we could dream of,” says Doelman, who is also a bee-keeper.
“And we’re growing now, as a response to climate change, winter canola … because our killing frost isn’t happening until November.”
Doelman says the frost used to appear in October, when temperatures dropped below 0 C for several hours at a time and killed newly planted crops.
But she hasn’t seen the frost appear until November for the last three years.
Doelman says that delay has given farmers the opportunity to plant canola in September, immediately after the typical harvest season for spring canola. The winter crop is then able to grow strong enough to withstand the frost when it arrives in November.
“Even though they’re planted in September, they get big enough to be able to overwinter under the snow,” she says.
She says the winter canola is harvested in July and is used for canola oil and biodiesel.
“What’s left over once they crush it is really, really high-quality livestock feed,” she said.
Being able to grow crops during the winter season has helped with balance for farmers, who usually have a “mad dash” during the typical five-month summer and spring season to harvest in the fall, Doelman says.
A winter crop “spreads out your workload, it spreads out your risk,” she says.
– By Fakiha Baig in Toronto.
As farmers grapple with climate-driven weather extremes, berry crops shelter indoors
By the time fresh blueberries hit Canadian grocery shelves in the winter, they may already be a month old after coming from countries such as Mexico and Peru.
A team of researchers from Simon Fraser University aims to give consumers a fresh, sustainable, locally grown option with a project that demonstrates how blueberries can be grown indoors during the winter in British Columbia.
Biological sciences professor Jim Mattsson is leading the research. He says the berries grown in a tightly controlled indoor environment are fresher and taste better than their imported counterparts. The process uses less water, keeps pesticide use to a minimum, and the indoor crops boast a smaller carbon footprint, he adds.
Canada’s typical blueberry season runs from July to September, with consumers relying on imports for non-frozen berries throughout the winter.
In B.C., the industry has been grappling with climate-related challenges in recent years, including heat waves, cold snaps, and widespread flooding in 2021.
Mattsson says growing indoors avoids such stressors, while the temperature and light can be controlled to prevent the plants from entering dormancy each winter.
“It has been shown that you can get more than one harvest per year,” he says.” You can get, on the same plants, two harvests per year.”
The process is an example of “vertical farming,” where plants are positioned in rows on shelves stacked on top of each other, Mattsson says.
Water and nutrients may be recycled for further use, he says, and recent technological advancements allow the recycling of heat from LED lighting.
The researchers are currently working with B.C.-based agritech company BeriTech Inc. on the first round of growth trials. After that, Mattsson says they will compete for a $5-million grant to build a prototype facility and scale the project up.
The work also involves exploring how berries grown indoors in Canada can compete with imports from an economic perspective, he says.
Mattsson adds that BeriTech is interested in exploring how the research on blueberries could be applied to other crops, such as raspberries and blackberries.
– By Brenna Owen in Burnaby, B.C.
Saskatoon bananas? Greenhouse crop harvested in December
Dean Sopher says he’s pessimistic about the world’s future.
It’s why he bought land near Saskatoon and built his own homestead, growing crops and raising livestock to meet his family’s needs.
But Sopher isn’t gardening typical Prairie produce. He’s growing bananas, oranges, lemons, limes, passion fruit, guava and figs in a greenhouse he built.
“It’s real food, eating fresh,” Sopher said in an interview on his farm near Saskatchewan’s largest city.
Concerned about worsening food quality and inflation, Sopher says he built his greenhouse about three years ago and harvested his first banana crop in December. He says the roughly $60,000 greenhouse was designed to optimize the heat and light from the sun.
“Once you have the structure properly designed, insulated, and well built, you can grow pretty much anything here,” he said.
While Sopher has moved the needle on what can grow on the Prairies, researchers say it’s unlikely tropical fruits will sprout from open fields in the future as the climate changes.
However, they say farmers may instead grow other types of grains and legumes, such as corn and soybeans, in regions where that’s currently not feasible.
In a scientific literature review, researchers at the University of Alberta found the Prairies have become hotter and drier over the last 120 years. There has also been less snowfall and more disruptive weather, the researchers found.
While it could mean more corn and soy in some areas, higher temperatures may cause some pests to flourish and create additional challenges to producers.
Associate professor Emmanuel Mapfumo at Concordia University of Edmonton said farmers are resilient and will continue to adapt.
Some strategies include zero tillage, rotating crops, growing varieties that are drought resistant and changing seeding rates.
“There’s no one solution,” he said.
– By Jeremy Simes in Saskatoon.
As the climate changes, so too do Canadians’ farm fields and dinner tables
Canada's farm fields are in the midst of a transformation.
Fish shrinking around the world has scientists worried
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Dino Grandoni, The Washington Post
Published May 04, 2024 • 5 minute read
Nearly three-fourths of marine fish populations sampled worldwide have seen their average body size dwindle between 1960 and 2020.
Nearly three-fourths of marine fish populations sampled worldwide have seen their average body size dwindle between 1960 and 2020.
There’s something fishy going on in the water. Across Earth’s oceans, fish are shrinking — and no one can agree why.
It’s happening with salmon near the Arctic Circle and skate in the Atlantic. Nearly three-fourths of marine fish populations sampled worldwide have seen their average body size dwindle between 1960 and 2020, according to a recent analysis.
Overfishing and human-caused climate change are decreasing the size of adult fish, threatening the food supply of more than 3 billion people who rely on seafood as a significant source of protein.
As fish get smaller, there is less meat to cook per catch. So scientists are working to piece together why exactly fish respond to rising ocean temperatures by getting smaller.
“This is a pretty fundamental question,” said Lisa Komoroske, a conservation biologist at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. “But we still don’t understand why.”
“How is it that we’ve known about this for so long but we don’t understand mechanisms?” she added.
The incredible shrinking fish
One undisputed reason so much marine life is getting smaller is fishing. Recreational anglers and commercial fishers alike like to catch large fish. That quest for the big ones leaves the small fries behind.
Rick Stuart-Smith, a marine biologist at the University of Tasmania in Australia, has surveyed coral reefs around the world. He said he can tell if a protected area has suffered from illegal fishing by the small size and sometimes even the shyness of the fish he she sees while diving.
In truly protected areas “you’ll even see big fish in less than ideal habitats,” he said.
But there are plenty of marine species that face little fishing pressure that are still shrinking. To investigate why, Komoroske and her colleague, Joshua Lonthair, decided to grow their own fish.
The pair started their experiment on sardines in California until the pandemic closed the lab in 2020. “We get a call that the facility is shutting down at midnight,” Lonthair said. “I’m in the lab actually taking my final measurements on those fish for our first set of measurements.”
The pair restarted their work in Massachusetts with about 400 brook trout reared for up to eight months in tanks. The scientists kept some of the fish in waters set at 59 degrees Fahrenheit while others at 68 degrees Fahrenheit. All were fed the same diet.
By the end of the experiment, the difference was stark. The trout raised in warmer waters were on average less than half the size as the other fish.
“You look at the fish, it’s so obvious,” Komoroske said. “Not that you don’t need statistics, but they’re clearly different sizes.” In the ocean, the phenomenon is so widespread it has a name: the temperature-size rule.
Putting theory to the test
For years, the leading theory for why fish grow to smaller adult sizes in warmer waters had to do with their gills.
Fish, unlike humans, cannot regulate their body temperature well. So when the water temperature goes up, so too does the oxygen they require. But, some scientists thought, the limited surface area of fish gills couldn’t keep up with the extra demand of a bigger body, leading fish to cut their growth short.
“That is the crucial point,” said Daniel Pauly, a marine biologist at the University of British Columbia who developed what today is called gill oxygen limitation theory. “Gills don’t go as fast as volume.” Climate change wasn’t on his mind at all when he began developing the theory in the 1970s when studying tiny tropical fish.
But more recently, when Komoroske and Lonthair dissected the brook trout, they found the gills of the fish raised in warm water were more than large enough to meet the animals’ energy needs, according to a study published earlier this year. In the case of the brook trout, the leading theory for why fish were shrinking appeared to be wrong.
“It doesn’t matter which species we do it on,” Lonthair said. “If it’s a global theory that the gills are going to limit growth, it shouldn’t matter if it’s a brook trout or a sardine or any other species.”
But Pauly said there is a different way of interpreting the data on the metabolic rate that shows gills do limit growth, and that other studies of the gills of other fish support his theory, too. He added that other scientists attempting to refute his long-standing theory are trying to “harpoon a big whale.”
Komoroske said her team is not trying to “pick fights” with their research. “This is how science is supposed to work,” she said.
‘It’s a problem’
Figuring out exactly why fish shrink in warmer waters is key for helping managers prevent overfishing in the warming open ocean and for helping aquaculturists choose the right fish to farm.
“We’re blinded to fixing problems if we don’t understand what’s causing them in the first place,” said Timothy Clark, a professor at Deakin University in Australia who has conducted similar experiments on fish and temperature.
Other explanations are that fish have evolved to stay small to survive hot spells, or that some other body system besides gills is limiting oxygen uptake and growth.
Whatever the reason, the shrinking-fish phenomenon could refashion ecosystems. “In marine and other aquatic ecosystems, size determines whether you are a prey or predator,” said Asta Audzijonyte at the University of Tasmania, who also studies fish size.
Smaller fish can produce fewer eggs, potentially altering ecosystems as ocean temperatures rise. For those who depend on the sea for their livelihoods, all those smaller fillets fetch a lower price.
“It’s a problem for the fishery,” said Art Bloom, a salmon fisherman in Alaska’s Bristol Bay with more than three decades of experience. “They don’t present as well in the supermarket.” During his career, he has had to switch from using nets with 5¼ inch openings to ones with 4¾ inch openings as the salmon he caught got smaller.
But there are signs of ecosystem health. Inês Martins, an ecologist at the University of York in England who found that nearly three-fourths of marine fish were dwindling in size, said many of those same species are increasing in abundance even as average body sizes goes down.
“There’s always a few winners and losers,” she said.
— This article is part of Animalia, a column exploring the strange and fascinating world of animals and the ways in which we appreciate, imperil and depend on them.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Dino Grandoni, The Washington Post
Published May 04, 2024 • 5 minute read
Nearly three-fourths of marine fish populations sampled worldwide have seen their average body size dwindle between 1960 and 2020.
Nearly three-fourths of marine fish populations sampled worldwide have seen their average body size dwindle between 1960 and 2020.
There’s something fishy going on in the water. Across Earth’s oceans, fish are shrinking — and no one can agree why.
It’s happening with salmon near the Arctic Circle and skate in the Atlantic. Nearly three-fourths of marine fish populations sampled worldwide have seen their average body size dwindle between 1960 and 2020, according to a recent analysis.
Overfishing and human-caused climate change are decreasing the size of adult fish, threatening the food supply of more than 3 billion people who rely on seafood as a significant source of protein.
As fish get smaller, there is less meat to cook per catch. So scientists are working to piece together why exactly fish respond to rising ocean temperatures by getting smaller.
“This is a pretty fundamental question,” said Lisa Komoroske, a conservation biologist at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. “But we still don’t understand why.”
“How is it that we’ve known about this for so long but we don’t understand mechanisms?” she added.
The incredible shrinking fish
One undisputed reason so much marine life is getting smaller is fishing. Recreational anglers and commercial fishers alike like to catch large fish. That quest for the big ones leaves the small fries behind.
Rick Stuart-Smith, a marine biologist at the University of Tasmania in Australia, has surveyed coral reefs around the world. He said he can tell if a protected area has suffered from illegal fishing by the small size and sometimes even the shyness of the fish he she sees while diving.
In truly protected areas “you’ll even see big fish in less than ideal habitats,” he said.
But there are plenty of marine species that face little fishing pressure that are still shrinking. To investigate why, Komoroske and her colleague, Joshua Lonthair, decided to grow their own fish.
The pair started their experiment on sardines in California until the pandemic closed the lab in 2020. “We get a call that the facility is shutting down at midnight,” Lonthair said. “I’m in the lab actually taking my final measurements on those fish for our first set of measurements.”
The pair restarted their work in Massachusetts with about 400 brook trout reared for up to eight months in tanks. The scientists kept some of the fish in waters set at 59 degrees Fahrenheit while others at 68 degrees Fahrenheit. All were fed the same diet.
By the end of the experiment, the difference was stark. The trout raised in warmer waters were on average less than half the size as the other fish.
“You look at the fish, it’s so obvious,” Komoroske said. “Not that you don’t need statistics, but they’re clearly different sizes.” In the ocean, the phenomenon is so widespread it has a name: the temperature-size rule.
Putting theory to the test
For years, the leading theory for why fish grow to smaller adult sizes in warmer waters had to do with their gills.
Fish, unlike humans, cannot regulate their body temperature well. So when the water temperature goes up, so too does the oxygen they require. But, some scientists thought, the limited surface area of fish gills couldn’t keep up with the extra demand of a bigger body, leading fish to cut their growth short.
“That is the crucial point,” said Daniel Pauly, a marine biologist at the University of British Columbia who developed what today is called gill oxygen limitation theory. “Gills don’t go as fast as volume.” Climate change wasn’t on his mind at all when he began developing the theory in the 1970s when studying tiny tropical fish.
But more recently, when Komoroske and Lonthair dissected the brook trout, they found the gills of the fish raised in warm water were more than large enough to meet the animals’ energy needs, according to a study published earlier this year. In the case of the brook trout, the leading theory for why fish were shrinking appeared to be wrong.
“It doesn’t matter which species we do it on,” Lonthair said. “If it’s a global theory that the gills are going to limit growth, it shouldn’t matter if it’s a brook trout or a sardine or any other species.”
But Pauly said there is a different way of interpreting the data on the metabolic rate that shows gills do limit growth, and that other studies of the gills of other fish support his theory, too. He added that other scientists attempting to refute his long-standing theory are trying to “harpoon a big whale.”
Komoroske said her team is not trying to “pick fights” with their research. “This is how science is supposed to work,” she said.
‘It’s a problem’
Figuring out exactly why fish shrink in warmer waters is key for helping managers prevent overfishing in the warming open ocean and for helping aquaculturists choose the right fish to farm.
“We’re blinded to fixing problems if we don’t understand what’s causing them in the first place,” said Timothy Clark, a professor at Deakin University in Australia who has conducted similar experiments on fish and temperature.
Other explanations are that fish have evolved to stay small to survive hot spells, or that some other body system besides gills is limiting oxygen uptake and growth.
Whatever the reason, the shrinking-fish phenomenon could refashion ecosystems. “In marine and other aquatic ecosystems, size determines whether you are a prey or predator,” said Asta Audzijonyte at the University of Tasmania, who also studies fish size.
Smaller fish can produce fewer eggs, potentially altering ecosystems as ocean temperatures rise. For those who depend on the sea for their livelihoods, all those smaller fillets fetch a lower price.
“It’s a problem for the fishery,” said Art Bloom, a salmon fisherman in Alaska’s Bristol Bay with more than three decades of experience. “They don’t present as well in the supermarket.” During his career, he has had to switch from using nets with 5¼ inch openings to ones with 4¾ inch openings as the salmon he caught got smaller.
But there are signs of ecosystem health. Inês Martins, an ecologist at the University of York in England who found that nearly three-fourths of marine fish were dwindling in size, said many of those same species are increasing in abundance even as average body sizes goes down.
“There’s always a few winners and losers,” she said.
— This article is part of Animalia, a column exploring the strange and fascinating world of animals and the ways in which we appreciate, imperil and depend on them.
Fish shrinking around the world has scientists worried
There's something fishy going on in the water. Across Earth's oceans, fish are shrinking — and no one can agree why.
They no longer live long enough to grow to historical size .Fish shrinking around the world has scientists worried
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Dino Grandoni, The Washington Post
Published May 04, 2024 • 5 minute read
Nearly three-fourths of marine fish populations sampled worldwide have seen their average body size dwindle between 1960 and 2020.
Nearly three-fourths of marine fish populations sampled worldwide have seen their average body size dwindle between 1960 and 2020.
There’s something fishy going on in the water. Across Earth’s oceans, fish are shrinking — and no one can agree why.
It’s happening with salmon near the Arctic Circle and skate in the Atlantic. Nearly three-fourths of marine fish populations sampled worldwide have seen their average body size dwindle between 1960 and 2020, according to a recent analysis.
Overfishing and human-caused climate change are decreasing the size of adult fish, threatening the food supply of more than 3 billion people who rely on seafood as a significant source of protein.
As fish get smaller, there is less meat to cook per catch. So scientists are working to piece together why exactly fish respond to rising ocean temperatures by getting smaller.
“This is a pretty fundamental question,” said Lisa Komoroske, a conservation biologist at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. “But we still don’t understand why.”
“How is it that we’ve known about this for so long but we don’t understand mechanisms?” she added.
The incredible shrinking fish
One undisputed reason so much marine life is getting smaller is fishing. Recreational anglers and commercial fishers alike like to catch large fish. That quest for the big ones leaves the small fries behind.
Rick Stuart-Smith, a marine biologist at the University of Tasmania in Australia, has surveyed coral reefs around the world. He said he can tell if a protected area has suffered from illegal fishing by the small size and sometimes even the shyness of the fish he she sees while diving.
In truly protected areas “you’ll even see big fish in less than ideal habitats,” he said.
But there are plenty of marine species that face little fishing pressure that are still shrinking. To investigate why, Komoroske and her colleague, Joshua Lonthair, decided to grow their own fish.
The pair started their experiment on sardines in California until the pandemic closed the lab in 2020. “We get a call that the facility is shutting down at midnight,” Lonthair said. “I’m in the lab actually taking my final measurements on those fish for our first set of measurements.”
The pair restarted their work in Massachusetts with about 400 brook trout reared for up to eight months in tanks. The scientists kept some of the fish in waters set at 59 degrees Fahrenheit while others at 68 degrees Fahrenheit. All were fed the same diet.
By the end of the experiment, the difference was stark. The trout raised in warmer waters were on average less than half the size as the other fish.
“You look at the fish, it’s so obvious,” Komoroske said. “Not that you don’t need statistics, but they’re clearly different sizes.” In the ocean, the phenomenon is so widespread it has a name: the temperature-size rule.
Putting theory to the test
For years, the leading theory for why fish grow to smaller adult sizes in warmer waters had to do with their gills.
Fish, unlike humans, cannot regulate their body temperature well. So when the water temperature goes up, so too does the oxygen they require. But, some scientists thought, the limited surface area of fish gills couldn’t keep up with the extra demand of a bigger body, leading fish to cut their growth short.
“That is the crucial point,” said Daniel Pauly, a marine biologist at the University of British Columbia who developed what today is called gill oxygen limitation theory. “Gills don’t go as fast as volume.” Climate change wasn’t on his mind at all when he began developing the theory in the 1970s when studying tiny tropical fish.
But more recently, when Komoroske and Lonthair dissected the brook trout, they found the gills of the fish raised in warm water were more than large enough to meet the animals’ energy needs, according to a study published earlier this year. In the case of the brook trout, the leading theory for why fish were shrinking appeared to be wrong.
“It doesn’t matter which species we do it on,” Lonthair said. “If it’s a global theory that the gills are going to limit growth, it shouldn’t matter if it’s a brook trout or a sardine or any other species.”
But Pauly said there is a different way of interpreting the data on the metabolic rate that shows gills do limit growth, and that other studies of the gills of other fish support his theory, too. He added that other scientists attempting to refute his long-standing theory are trying to “harpoon a big whale.”
Komoroske said her team is not trying to “pick fights” with their research. “This is how science is supposed to work,” she said.
‘It’s a problem’
Figuring out exactly why fish shrink in warmer waters is key for helping managers prevent overfishing in the warming open ocean and for helping aquaculturists choose the right fish to farm.
“We’re blinded to fixing problems if we don’t understand what’s causing them in the first place,” said Timothy Clark, a professor at Deakin University in Australia who has conducted similar experiments on fish and temperature.
Other explanations are that fish have evolved to stay small to survive hot spells, or that some other body system besides gills is limiting oxygen uptake and growth.
Whatever the reason, the shrinking-fish phenomenon could refashion ecosystems. “In marine and other aquatic ecosystems, size determines whether you are a prey or predator,” said Asta Audzijonyte at the University of Tasmania, who also studies fish size.
Smaller fish can produce fewer eggs, potentially altering ecosystems as ocean temperatures rise. For those who depend on the sea for their livelihoods, all those smaller fillets fetch a lower price.
“It’s a problem for the fishery,” said Art Bloom, a salmon fisherman in Alaska’s Bristol Bay with more than three decades of experience. “They don’t present as well in the supermarket.” During his career, he has had to switch from using nets with 5¼ inch openings to ones with 4¾ inch openings as the salmon he caught got smaller.
But there are signs of ecosystem health. Inês Martins, an ecologist at the University of York in England who found that nearly three-fourths of marine fish were dwindling in size, said many of those same species are increasing in abundance even as average body sizes goes down.
“There’s always a few winners and losers,” she said.
— This article is part of Animalia, a column exploring the strange and fascinating world of animals and the ways in which we appreciate, imperil and depend on them.
Fish shrinking around the world has scientists worried
There's something fishy going on in the water. Across Earth's oceans, fish are shrinking — and no one can agree why.