Climate change could end California farming: Chu: "Scientific" American
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Secretary of Energy Steven Chu warned climate change could wipe out California's farms by the end of the century by destroying snowpack that supplies vital water to the nation's top agriculture state, the Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday.USDA/ERS Data - Agricultural Productivity in the United States
In his first interview since taking office last month, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist said his home state would suffer some of the most devastating effects of global warming if the nation did not act to slow its advance.
"I don't think the American public has gripped in its gut what could happen," Chu told the newspaper. "We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California.
"I don't actually see how they can keep their cities going," he added.
The level of U.S. farm output in 2006 was 152 percent above its level in 1948, growing at an average annual rate of 1.59 percent.If CO2 is wrecking California agriculture, why is California dark blue on this map?
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* Every State exhibited a positive average annual rate of productivity growth over the entire 45-year period. Average annual rates of growth ranged from 2.6 percent for Oregon to 0.5 percent for Oklahoma. California and Florida had the highest relative levels of productivity in 2004 (see table).
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