About Ohio Cotton
The question that serves as the driving force behind the investigation of cotton production is:
Can Ohio afford to ignore a multibillion dollar global crop that was once successfully grown in the state under much less favorable climatic conditions?
The Environmental Defense Fund which has worked with Citicorp, DuPont, General Electric and AT&T, believes that corporate chiefs and politicians are turning a blind eye to climate change and the impact it can have on agriculture and society.
Over the last century the environmental and climatic changes have been dramatic – all in the direction of improving cotton yields in temperate zones. Based on the increased atmospheric CO2 alone, the yield of some crops has increased by over one hundred percent during this period. Cotton (like wheat, rice and oats) is classified as a C3 plant because of the fact that its photosynthetic pathway responds to increasing CO2 concentrations.The impact of increased temperature and CO2 on cotton yield since last grown in Marietta, Ohio over a century ago is unknown.
In terms of adaptation to climate change, cotton is at a disadvantage. While single cell plankton in the oceans are advancing toward temperate zones at a rate of 400 km per decade, cotton is dependent upon agricultural interests for its movement.
The USDA states that the Midwest growing season has lengthened by almost two weeks since 1950. Most climatologists agree that in the next few decades both CO2 and temperature should rise measurably, thus further enhancing potential Ohio cotton yields. These dramatic changes will move the global epicenter for the production of cotton toward more temperate latitudes (Ohio). The most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that "climate change is having an impact on every ecosystem from the equator to the poles" and contains a further warning of a potential breakdown of food systems.
As water, abundant in Ohio, becomes an increasingly precious resource, the production of cotton dependent on irrigation will decline. Other significant global factors will potentially contribute to a limitation of the cotton crop.
An enhancement of Ohio cotton production can come from agricultural waste (manure) that has been condemned for the pollution of the waters from Grand Lake St Mary's to Lake Erie and down to the Gulf of Mexico. The abundance of manure coming from Ohio farms can be converted to a valuable resource in the production of Organic Cotton.
The question that serves as the driving force behind the investigation of cotton production is:
Can Ohio afford to ignore a multibillion dollar global crop that was once successfully grown in the state under much less favorable climatic conditions?
The Environmental Defense Fund which has worked with Citicorp, DuPont, General Electric and AT&T, believes that corporate chiefs and politicians are turning a blind eye to climate change and the impact it can have on agriculture and society.
Over the last century the environmental and climatic changes have been dramatic – all in the direction of improving cotton yields in temperate zones. Based on the increased atmospheric CO2 alone, the yield of some crops has increased by over one hundred percent during this period. Cotton (like wheat, rice and oats) is classified as a C3 plant because of the fact that its photosynthetic pathway responds to increasing CO2 concentrations.The impact of increased temperature and CO2 on cotton yield since last grown in Marietta, Ohio over a century ago is unknown.
In terms of adaptation to climate change, cotton is at a disadvantage. While single cell plankton in the oceans are advancing toward temperate zones at a rate of 400 km per decade, cotton is dependent upon agricultural interests for its movement.
The USDA states that the Midwest growing season has lengthened by almost two weeks since 1950. Most climatologists agree that in the next few decades both CO2 and temperature should rise measurably, thus further enhancing potential Ohio cotton yields. These dramatic changes will move the global epicenter for the production of cotton toward more temperate latitudes (Ohio). The most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that "climate change is having an impact on every ecosystem from the equator to the poles" and contains a further warning of a potential breakdown of food systems.
As water, abundant in Ohio, becomes an increasingly precious resource, the production of cotton dependent on irrigation will decline. Other significant global factors will potentially contribute to a limitation of the cotton crop.
An enhancement of Ohio cotton production can come from agricultural waste (manure) that has been condemned for the pollution of the waters from Grand Lake St Mary's to Lake Erie and down to the Gulf of Mexico. The abundance of manure coming from Ohio farms can be converted to a valuable resource in the production of Organic Cotton.