Cold snap fears for winter cereal crops - Ireland

Cereal growers face massive losses in the winter oats crop following the recent cold snap.

Tillage farmers are bracing themselves for significant losses and the harsh reality of having to plough up crops sown last autumn.

AFP: IPCC chief defends panel in Himalaya glacier flap

IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri, addressing reporters at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, said that even if the remarks on Himalayan glaciers is incorrect, it does not undermine evidence supporting the existence of climate change.

"Theoretically, let's say we slipped up on one number, I don't think it takes anything away from the overwhelming scientific evidence of what's happening with the climate of this earth," he said.

"I've never used that figure in any of my talks, because I think it's not for the IPCC to make predictions of outcomes or dates. We always give ranges, and that's scientifically the way to do it. We always give ... scenarios of what might happen."
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Responding to a question, Pachauri said he feels he is being attacked personally over the potential flaw.

But he put a positive spin on the situation, saying: "You know, you can't attack the science, so attack the chair of the IPCC."

[2007: Here's just one of Pachauri's many predictions]

Agricultural production in many countries, including India, would be severely hit by climate variability. Therefore, farmers really need to be concerned about its impact, Pachauri said. The country needs to educate its farmers about the impact of climate change on agriculural production and food security, he added. “Basically, yields of some crops like wheat, rice and pulses will go down. We have got an evidence on decline in the productivity of wheat in the country. It is high time farmers should know why their yields are not growing,” the Nobel laureate noted.

2007: Fast melting Himalayan glaciers worrying: Pachauri

Rapid melting of the Himalayan glaciers has major implications for water supply in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change, Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, said on Monday.
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He said if the world did not act and cut down on carbon emissions by 2015 then it will witness much higher temperature increases than can be projected at this point of time.