LANDSCAPE RESCUE AND SUSTAINABLE HABITAT CREATION

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• A1. Land provides the principal basis for human livelihoods and well-being including the supply of food, freshwater and multiple other ecosystem services, as well as biodiversity. Human use directly affects more than 70% (likely 69-76%) of the global, ice- free land surface.Land also plays an important role in the climate system. 
• A1.5. About a quarter of the Earth’s ice-free land area is subject to human-induced degradation. Soil erosion from agricultural fields is estimated to be currently 10 to 20 times (no tillage) to more than 100 times (conventional tillage) higher than the soil formation rate.Climate change exacerbates land degradation, particularly in low-lying coastal areas, river deltas, drylands and in permafrost areas.Over the period 1961-2013, the annual area of drylands in drought has increased, on average by slightly more than 1% per year, with large inter-annual variability. In 2015, about 500 (380-620) million people lived within areas which experienced desertification between the 1980s and 2000s. The highest numbers of people affected are in South and East Asia, the circum Sahara region including North Africa, and the Middle East including the Arabian peninsula. Other dryland regions have also experienced desertification.People living in already degraded or desertified areas are increasingly negatively affected by climate change. 
• A 2. Since the pre-industrial period, the land surface air temperature has risen nearly twice as much as the global average temperature. Climate change, including increases in frequency and intensity of extremes, has adversely impacted food security and terrestrial ecosystems as well as contributed to desertification and land degradation in many regions. 
• A2.2. Warming has resulted in an increased frequency, intensity and duration of heat- related events, including heat waves in most land regions. Frequency and intensity of droughts has increased in some regions (including the Mediterranean, west Asia, many parts of South America, much of Africa, and north-eastern Asia) and there has been an increase in the intensity of heavy precipitation events at a global scale.
• A2.4. The frequency and intensity of dust storms have increased over the last few decades due to land use and land cover changes and climate-related factors in many dryland areas resulting in increasing negative impacts on human health, in regions such as the Arabian Peninsula and broader Middle East, Central Asia.
• A2.5. In some dryland areas, increased land surface air temperature and evapo-transpiration and decreased precipitation amount, in interaction with climate variability and human activities, have contributed to desertification. These areas include Sub-Saharan Africa, parts of East and Central Asia, and Australia.
• A2.6. Global warming has led to shifts of climate zones in many world regions, including expansion of arid climate zones and contraction of polar climate zones. As a consequence, many plant and animal species have experienced changes in their ranges, abundances, and shifts in their seasonal activities.
• A2.7. Climate change can exacerbate land degradation processes including through increases in rainfall intensity, flooding, drought frequency and severity, heat stress, dry spells, wind, sea-level rise and wave action, permafrost thaw with outcomes being modulated by land management. Ongoing coastal erosion is intensifying and impinging on more regions with sea level rise adding to land use pressure in some regions.
• A2.8. Climate change has already affected food security due to warming, changing precipitation patterns, and greater frequency of some extreme events. In many lower-latitude regions, yields of some crops (e.g., maize and wheat) have declined, while in many higher-latitude regions, yields of some crops (e.g., maize, wheat and sugar beets) have increased over recent decades. Climate change has resulted in lower animal growth rates and productivity in pastoral systems in Africa. There is robust evidence that 
• agricultural pests and diseases have already responded to climate change resulting in both increases and decreases of infestations. Based on indigenous and local knowledge, climate change is affecting food security in drylands, particularly those in Africa, and high mountain regions of Asia and South America.
• A 3. Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) activities accounted for around 13% of CO2, 44% of methane (CH4), and 82% of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from human activities globally during 2007-2016, representing 23% (12.0 +/- 3.0 GtCO2e yr-1) of total net anthropogenic emissions of GHGs21. The natural response of land to human-induced environmental change caused a net sink of around 11.2 GtCO2 yr-1 during 2007-2016 (equivalent to 29% of total CO2 emissions); the persistence of the sink is uncertain due to climate change. If emissions associated with pre- and post-production activities in the global food system are included, the emissions are estimated to be 21-37% of total net anthropogenic Green House Gas emissions.
• A 4. Changes in land conditions, either from land-use or climate change, affect global and regional climate. At the regional scale, changing land conditions can reduce or accentuate warming and affect the intensity, frequency and duration of extreme events. The magnitude and direction of these changes vary with location and season.
• A4.4. Desertification amplifies global warming through the release of CO2 linked with the decrease in vegetation cover. This decrease in vegetation cover tends to increase local albedo, leading to surface cooling.
• A 5. Climate change creates additional stresses on land, exacerbating existing risks to livelihoods, biodiversity, human and ecosystem health, infrastructure, and food systems. Increasing impacts on land are projected under all future Green House Gas emission scenarios. Some regions will face higher risks, while some regions will face risks previously not anticipated. Cascading risks with impacts on multiple systems and sectors also vary across regions.
• A5.4. The stability of food supply is projected to decrease as the magnitude and frequency of extreme weather events that disrupt food chains increases. Increased atmospheric CO2 levels can also lower the nutritional quality of crops. Global crop and economic models project a median increase of 7.6% (range of 1 to 23%) in cereal prices in 2050 due to climate change, leading to higher food prices and increased risk of food insecurity and hunger. The most vulnerable people will be more severely affected.
• A6. The level of risk posed by climate change depends both on the level of warming and on how population, consumption, production, technological development, and land management patterns evolve. Pathways with higher demand for food, feed, and water, more resource-intensive consumption and production, and more limited technological improvements in agriculture yields result in higher risks from water scarcity in drylands, land degradation, and food insecurity.
• A6.2. Risks related to water scarcity in drylands are lower in [areas] with low population growth, less increase in water demand, and high adaptive capacity, as in Shared Socio- economic Pathway 1. In these scenarios the risk from water scarcity in drylands is moderate even at global warming of 3°C. By contrast, risks related to water scarcity in drylands are greater for [areas] with high population growth, high vulnerability, higher water demand, and low adaptive capacity. The transition from moderate to high risk occurs between a [global temperature increase between] 1.2°C and 1.5°C.

Why do I bring all this up? Last December a few colleagues and I started an environmental consulting company in Ireland. Our goals were at first modest. We were only going to add our scientific expertise to modelling of future climate scenarios. However, this winter we met some people who are involved in the creation of sustainable agriculture. We have now joined forces and are writing proposals to fund medium scale landscape rescue projects not only around the Mediterranean, but also projects the attempt to take action now to prevent continuing landscape destruction, such as in Ireland. 

The problem is that we are running into walls of what people think a traditional business is. Ireland is really into IT now…they are funding companies have more gimdads and duuhickies rather than companies that are really doing something of value to improve the lives of people. 

Ireland and Europe in general have a lack of companies that are attempting to address global change issues. Sure they have plenty of trash recycling companies and fuel economic transportation related business. That is they are looking at reducing the carbon foot-print by reducing the production of waste and carbon emissions. However, they don’t have any businesses (except for one or two permaculture/sustainable agriculture businesses) that address the creation of sustainable landscapes. We do that, and we are now collaborating with permaculture businesses that are doing that as well. When we have approached the Irish business start-up agencies, we get a yawn…maybe we should do some Riverdance routines or something?

Well now I come to the crux of my diatribe. Are any of you committed enough to fighting climate change to become a supporter of a company that is trying to do something about the impact of climate change on agricultural and natural lands? Would you be willing to donate money to help a company doing this kind of work?