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Co-occurring droughts could threaten global food security

Droughts occurring at the same time across different regions of the planet could place an unprecedented strain on the global agricultural system and threaten the water security of millions of people, according to a new study in Nature Climate Change.

A Washington State University-led research team analyzed climate, agricultural and population growth data to show continuing fossil fuel dependence will increase the probability of co-occurring droughts 40% by the mid-21st century and 60% by the late 21st century, relative to the late-20th century. That comes out to an approximately ninefold increase in agricultural and human population exposure to severe co-occurring droughts unless steps are taken to lower carbon emissions.

Deepti Singh.
Singh

“While technology and other circumstances today are a lot different than they were in the late 19th century, crop failures in multiple breadbasket regions still have the potential to affect global food availability,” said study coauthor Deepti Singh, an assistant professor in the WSU School of the Environment. “This could in turn increase volatility in global food prices, affecting food access and exacerbating food insecurity, particularly in regions that are already vulnerable to environmental shocks such as droughts.”

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Phys.org
WSU Insider
ZME Science
Oak Ridge

 

 

 

Music professor overcomes COVID‑19 challenges to release solo tuba album

Chris Dickey.
Dickey

Washington State University tuba Professor Chris Dickey recently released their fourth solo album, titled “Panorama,” under the WSU Recordings Label.

“When I think of performing, I immediately envision playing with other musicians in the same space. In the pandemic, this wasn’t possible,” Dickey said. “In my career, I have rarely performed unaccompanied music or music with electronics. Recording this project all by myself forced me out of my comfort zone. In the summer of 2020, I made myself a promise that I would keep preparing music at a high level just as I was expecting my students to do.”

The album was recorded and produced while adhering to WSU’s COVID-19 mitigation protocol.

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WSU Insider

Billions of federal dollars headed to Western forests to manage fires

Less than a year after Washington state committed $328 million toward reducing the impacts of climate-charged catastrophic wildfire and improving forest health, the U.S. Forest Service announced a plan liable to supercharge that effort.

Mark Swanson.
Swanson

“If we want to have stands of large, old ponderosa pine or western larch, or huckleberry fields, healthy and diverse wildlife habitats, and watershed integrity, then we need to emulate the processes that created the complex, fire-driven mosaics of the past. This plan promises to elevate the rate of work necessary to accomplish that goal,” says Mark Swanson, a fire ecology researcher and associate professor of silviculture and landscape ecology in the Washington State University School of the Environment.

Swanson appreciates that the Forest Service has multiple tools to choose from when figuring out how to make forests more fire resilient. Prescribed fires aren’t feasible in every forest, and pruning and thinning aren’t always appropriate options.

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Crosscut.

Professors explain Russia-Ukraine crisis

WSU, UI instructors discuss Putin’s motivations, what comes next

As the world watches the Russian attacks against Ukraine that began this week, professors at Washington State University and the University of Idaho gave presentations Wednesday putting the conflict into context and explaining Russian President Vladimir Putin’s motivations.

Tom Preston
Preston

Russia’s actions in Ukraine should not come as a surprise to anyone who has followed Putin’s career, Washington State University Political Science Professor Tom Preston said during a presentation for the WSU Foley Institute.

Preston said Putin is a strong nationalist who believes bringing Ukraine into Russian control would cement his legacy as a great Russian leader. Additionally, Putin believes the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s potential expansion to include Eastern European countries like Ukraine is an existential threat to Russia’s security and influence.

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Moscow-Pullman Daily News
The Seattle Times

Alumnus to share nutrition advances for healthier exotic animals at Halver Lecture

Troy Tollefson.
Tollefson

Building on experiences gained at Washington State University, alumnus Troy Tollefson helps black rhinos, giraffes, maned wolves, and other exotic animals live healthier lives in zoos and sanctuaries as an animal nutritionist.

After earning a trio of degrees at WSU—bachelor’s and master’s degrees in zoology in 2002 and 2004, followed by a doctorate in natural resource sciences in 2007—Tollefson began his career at SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida, where he managed nutrition for more than 300 different species and over 1,000 animals as a zoo nutritionist.  Since 2011, he has been senior nutritionist and research and development manager for Mazuri® Exotic Animal Nutrition.

“Veterinarians treat an animal’s immediate health problem,“ Tollefson said, “while a nutritionist tries to proactively prevent the problem.“

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WSU Insider