- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert

Faced with growing global food demand, one solution to increasing productivity is cutting air pollution, reported Ohio's Country Journal.
MIT Sloan School of Management visiting professor Konstantinos Metaxoglou and UC Davis ag economics professor Aaron Smith quantified crop yield increases attributed to recent reduction in the emissions of NOx from power plants in the U.S. They found that the average corn yield increased by 2.5% and soybeen yield by 1.6% from 2003 to 2011.
The increased yield led to an increase in the two crops' total annual surplus.
“While farmers are worse off and consumers are...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
On the bright side, a companion story said this year's spring and summer weather is also responsible for cleaner air than usual in the Valley.
In the farm story, reporter Robert Rodriguez devoted significant space to the Valley's raisin crop, which must reach specific sugar levels before an army of 25,000 workers clips grape bunches and arranges them on paper...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A 60-foot tower near the UC Cooperative Extension office on South Mt. Vernon Avenue in Bakersfield has been built to hold instruments aloft for air quality studies in the area, the Bakersfield Californian reported.
Researchers from around the country are conducting the studies to gain a deeper understanding of the environment and to inform air quality regulatory policy.
"You need to measure what's in the air, and then from that you go back and look at crafting regulatory policy," UCCE farm advisor John Karlik was quoted. "But science has to precede policy."
The tower is hosted by the UC Cooperative...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert

The Sacramento Bee picked up on a UC news release about the most recent issue of California Agriculture journal, which said more than 1 million California farmworkers face a higher risk of diabetes and respiratory disease because of poor air quality.
The news release says California's Central Valley has the highest recorded levels of particulate matter in the country. The polluted air results in increased rates of asthma and other respiratory illnesses. In addition, the release said research points to possible environmental links between...