Carnegie Explains Why Inefficient Crops Which Waste Water Are Good

Scientists with the Carnegie Institutions’s Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University and the University of Montana analyzed temperature, reflectivity, and evapotranspiration from satellite data across 733,000 square miles—an area larger than the state of Alaska. They found converting from natural cerrado grassland vegetation to crop/pasture on average triggered warming of 2.79 °F (1.55 °C), but that subsequent conversion to sugarcane, cooled the surrounding air by an average of 1.67 °F (0.93°C).

“We found that shifting from natural vegetation to crops or pasture results in local warming because the plants give off less beneficial water. But the bamboo-like sugarcane is more reflective and gives off more water—much like the natural vegetation,” said Carnegie’s Scott Loarie, lead author of the research. “It’s a potential win-win for the climate—using sugarcane to power vehicles reduces carbon emissions, while growing it lowers the local air temperature.”

http://news.mongabay.com/

About Tony Heller

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7 Responses to Carnegie Explains Why Inefficient Crops Which Waste Water Are Good

  1. Latitude says:

    Anthony has this posted too.
    Here’s how you connect the dots.

    “from the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology”

    Who received funding from “Climate Policy Initiative”

    “The Climate Policy Initiative is being funded by the Soros Foundations Network”

    Soros owns the largest sugar cane fields and processing plants in Brazil.

  2. climate lurker says:

    And here I thought that the consensus was that water vapor supercharges global warming. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/11/1110_051110_warming.html

  3. suyts says:

    And growing crops to actually feed people? Where does that come into play?

    Oh, wait, I forgot, this is a totalitarian socialist Malthusian movement which came about because of the general misanthropy of leftist elitists. Food riots? Think nothing of it, lets just worry about what we’re putting in our gas tanks to make them run. No, lets not worry about the price of food or fuels, surely that won’t effect to poor people and nations of this world. No, let’s not worry about the inefficiency of biofuels, we can always plant more. They’re not using the land except for that silly food stuff.

  4. Andy Weiss says:

    What is going to happen to world food supplies if we get a repeat of the 1930’s Dust Bowl?

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