A large body of research has explored opportunities to mitigate climate change in agricultural systems; however, less research has explored opportunities across the food system. Here we expand the existing research with a review of potential mitigation opportunities across the entire food system, including in pre-production, production, processing, transport, consumption and loss and waste. We detail and synthesize recent research on the topic, and explore the applicability of different climate mitigation strategies in varying country contexts with different economic and agricultural systems. Further, we highlight some potential adaptation co-benefits of food system mitigation strategies and explore the potential implications of such strategies on food systems as a whole. We suggest that a food systems research approach is greatly needed to capture such potential synergies, and highlight key areas of additional research including a greater focus on low- and middle-income countries in particular. We conclude by discussing the policy and finance opportunities needed to advance mitigation strategies in food systems.
Nutrition is affected by numerous environmental and societal causes. This paper starts with a simple framework based on three domains: nutritional quality, economic viability, and environmental sustainability, and calls for an integrated approach in research to simultaneously account for all three. It highlights limitations in the current understanding of each domain, and how they influence one another. Five research topics are identified: measuring the three domains (nutritional quality, economic viability, environmental sustainability); modeling across disciplines; furthering the analysis of food systems in relation to the three domains; connecting climate change and variability to nutritional quality; and increasing attention to inequities among population groups in relation to the three domains. For an integrated approach to be developed, there is a need to identify and disseminate available metrics, modeling techniques, and tools to researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. This is a first step so that a systems approach that takes into account potential environmental and economic trade-offs becomes the norm in analyzing nutrition and food-security patterns. Such an approach will help fill critical knowledge gaps and will guide researchers seeking to define and address specific research questions in nutrition in their wider socioeconomic and environmental contexts.
A 1999 study heightened long-standing concerns over persistent organic pollutant contamination in the Aral Sea area, detecting elevated levels in breast milk and cord blood of women in Karakalpakstan (western Uzbekistan). These findings prompted a collaborative research study aimed at linking such human findings with evidence of food chain contamination in the area. An international team carried out analyses of organochlorine and organophosphate pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) on samples of 12 foods commonly produced and consumed in Karakalpakstan. Analysis consistently detected long-lasting organochlorine pesticides and their metabolites in all foods of animal origin and in some vegetables such as onions and carrots-two low-cost components of many traditional dishes. Levels of PCBs were relatively low in all samples except fish. Analyses revealed high levels of PCDDs and PCDFs (together often termed "dioxins") in sheep fat, dairy cream, eggs, and edible cottonseed oil, among other foodstuffs. These findings indicate that food traditionally grown, sold, and consumed in Karakalpakstan is a major route of human exposure to several persistent toxic contaminants, including the most toxic of dioxins, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD). Intake estimations demonstrate that consumption of even small amounts of locally grown food may expose consumers to dioxin levels that considerably exceed the monthly tolerable dioxin intake levels set by the World Health Organization. Data presented in this study allow a first assessment of the risk associated with the consumption of certain food products in Karakalpakstan and highlight a critical public health situation.
<p>In the Mediterranean region climate and other environmental changes have become major threats to both ecosystems and human wellbeing. Climate change is expected to be the most important threat to biodiversity in the Mediterranean over the next 10 years, followed by habitat degradation, exploitation, pollution, eutrophication and invasion of species and the loss of biodiversity. Climate change interacts with other environmental problems in the Mediterranean Basin, resulting from land use, pollution and biodiversity loss. The nature of the semi-enclosed Mediterranean Sea implies unique physiographic and ecological features. The Mediterranean Sea is considered as one of the hotspots of global biodiversity where the impact of climate change associated with other anthropogenic pressures could be the most destructive. Although it represents only 0.8% of the world's ocean surface, it is home to between 4 and 18% of the world's marine species.</p><p>The Mediterranean region is particularly vulnerable because it cumulates environmental risks, including strong warming and drying, accelerating sea-level, rapid urbanization, increasing pollution of the air and the water, and the impacts of mass tourism. Ecosystems suffer from land degradation including the loss of half of the wetlands, overfishing (20% of fish species are at risk of extinction by 2050), non-sustainable agriculture, wildfires (burnt area may double by 2100) and the invasion of non-indigenous species (&#8216;tropicalization&#8217;). These factors strongly impact water resources, biodiversity on land and in the ocean, human health and security.</p><p>The effects of climate change in the Mediterranean basin are asymmetric. In the northern and western part of the Mediterranean, situation is heterogeneous, but historical responsibility of greenhouse emissions since industrial revolution is objectively higher than in southern and eastern part. The EU counties are facing impacts of climate change but societies are less vulnerable.&#160; Most countries located in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean suffer the consequences of climate change with greater effects. Climate change can be an added challenge, when a country is already facing structural issues of poverty rate, weakness of infrastructure and social services, critical demographic changes, high unemployment, economic informality and emigration, political instability, corruption and spatial inequality with fast urbanization. All Mediterranean countries are nevertheless facing cross-cutting common issues, such as biodiversity preservation, sustainable development of tourism, commercial links related to food production and consumption, stock of fishes, blue carbon, energy production, political stability, migrations and security. Their interests are linked, because their share a common resource.</p><p>The adaptive capacity of ecosystems and humans is expected to be progressively challenged due to the effects of droughts, heat waves, sea-level rise and ocean warming and acidification. Progress towards achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals differs strongly between Mediterranean sub-regions, with north-western countries having stronger resilience than southern and eastern countries.</p><p>Our objective is to present the threats and vulnerabilities of the Mediterranean region. Then we will see the impacts on ecosystems, economic sectors and human well-being. Finally, we will present the different adaptation options, their limits and climate-resilient development pathways.&#160;</p><p>&#160;</p><p><strong>Disclaimer&#160;:</strong> the content of IPCC reports are pre-decisional and confidential until they are formally accepted by member governments.</p><p>&#160;</p>
The reproduction and sexual cycles of Donax venustus Poli 1795, Donax semistriatus Poli 1795, and individuals with intermediate shell morphotypes were studied in the littoral of Málaga (Southern Spain) from February 1990 to January 1991, using histology and analysing the changes in flesh dry weight. The littoral of Málaga has mild seawater temperatures and several upwellings with high levels of chlorophyll a. Due to these environmental conditions, the reproductive periods of these bivalve species are very extensive, from February to November. The histological study shows asynchronous sexual cycles, with continuous but partial individual spawnings from April to November in about 50% of the D. semistriatus population, and percentages higher than 40% of the sample in most months for D. venustus. An important decrease in the ratio flesh dry weight/length3 was noted from June to August in the three populations; this is apparently related with peaks of spawning. Based on the macroscopic observation of the gonads, on the flesh dry weight study and on histological data, the sexual cycle of the intermediate morphotypes is simultaneous and similar throughout the year with those of D. venustus and D. semistriatus.
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