More to come …
environmental quality
What you might have missed on Black Friday: Feds release dire climate report
“Earth’s climate is now changing faster than at any point in the history of modern civilization, primarily as a result of human activities. The impacts of global climate change are already being felt in the United States and are projected to intensify in the future.” So begins the overview of the Fourth National Climate Assessment, which the White House released late last week — on Nov. 23, the big Black Friday day of shopping. Read the full report (excellent, searchable website).
The report’s chapter about the Midwest notes, for example, that “Projected changes in precipitation, coupled with rising extreme temperatures before mid-century, will reduce Midwest agricultural productivity to levels of the 1980s without major technological advances.”
If you’re a member of the media and would like to interview someone about the effects of climate change in Ohio, including on agriculture, contact Aaron Wilson, who’s a climate specialist with CFAES’s OSU Extension outreach arm and a senior research associate with Ohio State’s Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center. He’s at wilson.1010@osu.edu, 614-292-7930. (Photo: Polar bear crosses a melt pond in the high Arctic Ocean, Getty Images.)
Laser-guided ‘intelligent’ sprayer is good for all kinds of green
A CFAES research team has developed a laser-guided pesticide sprayer, for use by orchards, vineyards and nurseries, that gives control of diseases and pests but uses less pesticide to do it. Farmers’ wallets, food safety and the environment stand to gain.
10 Clean Marinas piped aboard
The Ohio Clean Marinas Program, a voluntary certification program promoting environment- and water-friendly practices, recently recognized 10 newly certified or recertified marinas in the state.
On the beach, and what it’s worth
Brent Sohngen, professor in CFAES’s Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, has received a grant from Ohio State’s Ohio Sea Grant program to determine the economic value of Lake Erie’s beaches — useful information for estimating, say, the economic hit from harmful algal blooms.
Which Lake Erie beach do you value most? Leave your reply below. (Photo: Lake Erie near Sandusky by Mampfred, iStock.)
Study: The dollar value of clean beaches
What are clean ocean beaches worth? A study co-authored by Tim Haab, professor in CFAES’s Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, uncovered answers.
Dicamba restrictions added
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is requiring the makers of dicamba, a controversial weed killer, to revise its label directions. Specifically, use restrictions are being added to minimize the risk of drift onto neighboring crops. Read the story.
How Ohio communities can handle pluses, minuses of oil and gas work
A July 27 event at Ohio State will look at how Ohio communities can experience the most benefits — and fewest problems — from oil and gas work in their areas. Continue reading
April 19: Who will be at the small business, climate change roundtable
The guests at tomorrow’s roundtable discussion on small business and climate change, which is from 5-8 p.m. in CFAES’s Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center on Ohio State’s campus in Columbus, will include Ohio Rep. Fred Strahorn; Michael Schadek, assistant director for intergovernmental affairs and economic development for the city of Columbus; and representatives from Ohio Rep. Anne Gonzales’s Columbus office, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s Columbus office, Java Central Cafe and Roaster, car2go Columbus, the Land-Grant Brewing Company, Ohiyo Chocolate, Portia’s Café, Fusian, and Wolf’s Ridge Brewing.
Nonpartisan group Defend Our Future is hosting the event. Details: Marguerite Dooley, marguerite@defendourfuture.org.
April 19: How climate change is affecting small businesses
The nonprofit, nonpartisan climate advocacy group Defend Our Future is hosting a roundtable discussion with Columbus-area small business owners and Columbus and Ohio elected officials on April 19 on Ohio State’s Columbus campus. It’s from 5-8 p.m. in CFAES’s Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive.
A media advisory from the group said the discussion “will touch on the impact climate change is having on small businesses, their bottom lines and consumer preferences and how strong state and national environmental protections, such as those provided by the EPA, are important factors for a healthy and vibrant business community.”
Contact Marguerite Dooley, marguerite@defendourfuture.org, for details.