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Title: Special Session Symposium--Tough Choices, Soil, and Climate Change
Lead Community Sponsor:
Cosponsor: ASA Section: Agronomic Production Systems, ASA Section: Land Management and Conservation, SSSA Division: Forest, Range and Wildland Soils, SSSA Division: Soils and Environmental Quality, SSSA Division: Pedology, SSSA Division: Wetland Soils
Community Cosponsor:
Format: Oral Symposium
Keywords: adaptation, agenda, climate change and mitigation
Session Description: It appears unlikely that humans will change their behavior in a timely enough manner to mitigate potential climate change effects on the Earth. Adaptation to climate change is thus a necessary aspect of our civilization’s future and to be successful will require a detailed analysis of current ecosystem services and how their shift due to climate change could affect our future well-being. For example, it appears now that hundreds of thousands of people will need to move gradually (or perhaps rapidly) from coastal areas that will become inundated. Where will displaced people move and what will happen to the built environment that is inundated? What new pollution problems may? What new wetlands can be created, and where, which can help lessen future flooding along a “new” coast. Some existing agricultural areas will have a more-limited growing season, or be lost completely, while other areas are projected to experience agricultural expansion. Warming and shifting rainfall patterns are presently motivating farmers to adapt…what are we facing with the changing climate in terms of shifting US agriculture and the ability to provide a stable food supply? What commodities are most likely to be negatively affected, how much, and can we move current production to other locations in order to maintain food supplies? New pest, crop or human diseases will continue to emerge and perhaps make their way north into former, cooler climates. How might current pest, crop or human diseases lessen? As scientists we can identify adaptation mechanisms, quantify potential changes in landscapes and ecosystem services, and help derive a plan to minimize the disturbances our civilization faces due to this unprecedented problem. This session will invite mostly non-Tri-Societies speakers to present a current state of knowledge and help the Tri-Societies develop a path forward for a research and action agenda.