Session 1 Addressing Global Food Security in a Changing Environment

Monday, 29 January 2024: 8:30 AM-10:00 AM
Latrobe (Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor)
Host: Second Symposium on Environmental Security
Cochairs:
Melissa Breeden, NOAA ESRL, Boulder, CO; Lauren F. Stuart, World Meteorological Organization, Johns Hopkins Advanced Academics Program, Washington, D.C., DC and Mike Hobbins

Food security is a key pillar of environmental security and lies at the heart of human well-being and prosperity. However, it remains one of the world’s greatest challenges and is increasingly threatened by our changing environment. Our food system – including the production, distribution, and consumption of food – is highly vulnerable to extreme weather and climate events. The interactions between weather, climate, and the food system have a significant impact on food security by affecting the availability, access, utilization, and stability of food. However, the global food system is not only vulnerable to environmental changes, but also a major driver of these changes as a significant source of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

In line with the theme of the 104th AMS Annual Meeting, addressing food security in the context of a changing environment will require engagement from the physical and social sciences, policy-makers, practitioners, and other stakeholders. Therefore, this session will bring together diverse perspectives to explore the role of the AMS community in addressing global food security in a changing environment. We welcome submissions on, but not limited to, the following:

  • how advances in earth-system and data driven modeling, improvements in seasonal to sub-seasonal forecasting, and enhanced precipitation predictions (including drought and excessive precipitation) are applied in the context of food security;
  • observations to support food-security monitoring, and drought and famine early warning;
  • engaging with users and decision-makers and communicating scientific uncertainty effectively to food-security stakeholders;
  • engaging with stakeholders and forecasters to better capture their expertise and feedback into climate and food system prediction through the operations-to-research and research-to-operations (O2R-R2O) nexus; 
  • climate change adaptation and mitigation across the food system;
  • attribution of meteorological and climate impacts for food security applications; 
  • addressing systemic risks and cascading crises across the food system; 
  • enabling humanitarian action and sustainable development to support food security; 
  • environmental justice and equitable food access; and
  • impacts of extreme events across the food system.

Papers:
8:30 AM
1.1
Multiyear ENSO-Based Crop Yield Forecasts for Early Warning
Weston Anderson, University of Maryland, College Park, MD; and S. Shukla, C. J. Justice, B. Barker, A. J. Hoell, N. Lenssen, K. Slinski, J. Lou, J. Lou, B. Cook, and A. McNally

9:00 AM
1.3
Examining the Air-Surface Exchange in Field Edge Boundaries: Implications for African Smallholder Maize Fields
Neal Eash, The University of Tennessee, Knoville, TN; and B. B. Hicks, T. Raza, and J. Oetting

9:15 AM
1.4
The SMAP-Based Dynamic Agricultural Productivity Indicator for Improved Corn and Soybean Yield Productivity Forecasts
Manh-Hung Le, SAIC, Greenbelt, MD; and J. Bolten, R. Mueller, D. Johnson, and M. López

- Indicates paper has been withdrawn from meeting
- Indicates an Award Winner