• New Zealand one of few island nations wi

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Tue Feb 7 21:30:30 2023
    New Zealand one of few island nations with potential to produce enough
    food in a nuclear winter, researchers say

    Date:
    February 7, 2023
    Source:
    University of Otago
    Summary:
    New Zealand is one of only a few island nations that could continue
    to produce enough food to feed its population in a nuclear winter,
    researchers have found.


    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email
    FULL STORY ==========================================================================
    New Zealand is one of only a few island nations that could continue
    to produce enough food to feed its population in a nuclear winter,
    researchers have found.


    ==========================================================================
    In a new study Professor Nick Wilson, from the University of Otago and independent researcher Dr Matt Boyd, from Adapt Research in New Zealand,
    say five island nations, including New Zealand, could be well placed
    to continue to produce food despite the reduced sunlight and cooler temperatures caused by soot in the atmosphere following a nuclear war
    in the Northern Hemisphere.

    Australia (an island continent), Iceland, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands
    were also likely to have robust food self-sufficiency, even in an extreme nuclear winter.

    Their research is published in the international journal Risk Analysis.

    Professor Wilson says while New Zealand was likely to continue to be
    able to produce enough food, its production and distribution was still threatened by the country's extreme dependence on imported commodities,
    such as refined fuel.

    The researchers investigated the impact of abrupt sunlight reducing
    scenarios caused by nuclear war, super volcano eruptions or asteroid
    impacts on agricultural production globally. They applied published crop
    models under 'nuclear winter' conditions to 38 island nations, combining
    this with other methods to estimate the food calorie supply. They also
    assessed a range of resilience factors that might protect countries from
    the impacts of a nuclear winter.

    Dr Boyd says although some other nations would likely be able to produce
    enough food, other factors, such as the collapse of industry and social functioning placed their resilience in doubt.

    Professor Wilson says the findings are consistent with a 1980s study
    on the impact of nuclear war on New Zealand, although the country's
    resilience has declined since then as its dependence on imported diesel
    and digital infrastructure has grown.

    "Islands such as New Zealand are often very dependent on imports of
    refined liquid fuel, may lack energy self-sufficiency and are susceptible
    to breakdowns and shortages of critical commodities. While New Zealand
    could divert a high proportion of its dairy exports to supply the local
    market, it lacks the ability to manufacture many replacement parts
    for farm and food processing machinery." Dr Boyd says the findings of
    the study reinforce the precarious position many countries would find themselves in during a global catastrophe.

    "New Zealand has the potential to preserve an industrial society through
    this kind of catastrophe, but it is not 'plug-and-play'. A decent amount
    of strategic planning needs to happen and across a long period of time,
    but this planning would have benefits in dealing with a wide range
    of extreme risks." Dr Boyd says the findings show there is a need to
    analyse nuclear winter and other abrupt sunlight reducing scenarios as
    part of a comprehensive national risk assessment.

    "We are not aware of any plan for this kind of global catastrophe,
    including whether priorities for rationing have been considered.

    "With the Government expected to release New Zealand's first National
    Security Strategy this year it is important that the catastrophic risks associated with abrupt sunlight reducing scenarios do not slip through
    the cracks."
    * RELATED_TOPICS
    o Plants_&_Animals
    # Agriculture_and_Food # Food_and_Agriculture # Food
    o Earth_&_Climate
    # Energy_and_the_Environment # Geography #
    Renewable_Energy
    o Science_&_Society
    # World_Development # Resource_Shortage #
    Security_and_Defense
    * RELATED_TERMS
    o Effects_of_nuclear_explosions o Reindeer_(Caribou) o
    Alpine_Fault o Nuclear_power_plant o Sei_Whale o Chloroplast
    o Lake_effect_snow o Bean

    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Otago. Note: Content
    may be edited for style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Matt Boyd, Nick Wilson. Island refuges for surviving nuclear
    winter and
    other abrupt sunlight‐reducing catastrophes. Risk Analysis,
    2022; DOI: 10.1111/risa.14072 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230207191603.htm

    --- up 49 weeks, 1 day, 10 hours, 50 minutes
    * Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)