Posts Tagged: China
Beeing Friendly.
By Cynthia Kerson, UC Master Gardener of Napa County For the past few years, I've been...
Bees love flowers. (Unsplash/k-mitch-hodge)
Bees love purple flowers. (Unsplash/brinzan-sabina)
Bees love sunflowers. (Unsplash/odin-aerni)
Bees love cherry blossoms. (Unsplash/zuleika-sequeira)
Raised bed beginning. (Pinterest)
Lasagne method, sheet compost; find how-to link at the end of the article. (UC ANR)
Wildflowers love full sun. (GetDrawings.com)
China aster. (Eden Brothers)
Baby blue eyes. (Earthcare Seeds)
Shirley poppy. (The Press Democrat)
Tidy tips. (Park Seed)
Coreopsis with bee. (Public Domain Pictures)
Find the bee. Bees love borage. (Beverly Bee)
UC Berkeley, former Gov. Jerry Brown partner with China to spur climate action
Reposted from the UC Berkeley News
As the dangers of climate change grow and global political tensions rise, the University of California, Berkeley, in partnership with former California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. and China's top climate change official Xie Zhenhua, with support from other University of California campuses, today launched a groundbreaking new initiative — the California-China Climate Institute — to spur further climate action through joint research, training and dialogue.
“The climate threat doesn't respect borders and it doesn't pause for politics. Now is the time for action from leaders everywhere — for humanity and our common future,” said Jerry Brown, chair of the California-China Climate Institute, who was appointed a visiting professor at UC Berkeley in July. “With this Institute, California and China are pushing forward together.”
Brown announced the new transpacific initiative with China's Special Representative for Climate Change Affairs Xie Zhenhua, who leads the Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development at Tsinghua University — one of China's preeminent research institutions — which will partner with the California-China Climate Institute.
“Climate change is a common threat faced by the human society. I deeply appreciate Governor Brown's great contribution and leadership to addressing climate change during his tenure as governor. I hope the Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development of Tsinghua University can continue deep collaboration with Governor Brown's team,” said Xie Zhenhua.
The California-China Climate Institute is housed at UC Berkeley's School of Law and College of Natural Resources and will deploy the university's resources and expertise to advance research on low-carbon transportation and zero emission vehicles; carbon pricing; climate adaptation and resilience; sustainable land use and climate-smart agriculture; carbon capture and storage; and long-term climate goal-setting and policy enforcement.
“Berkeley is uniquely positioned to help these two world leaders address the pressing issue of climate change,” said UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ. “Our faculty and researchers each day take on the peril of our changing climate and seek to develop new technologies and policies that will reduce greenhouse gasses across continents. This institute will play a key role in spreading that work around the world.”
Through this work, the California-China Climate Institute will identify and share best practices and key lessons; scale innovative climate solutions; and help inform top policy and decision makers in California and China — and beyond.
“UC Berkeley has played a key role in the development of climate solutions and partnering with the state to support California's emissions reductions goals,” said David Ackerly, Dean of the College of Natural Resources. “We're excited to build on this experience and work with our colleagues in China to address the complex global challenges ahead.”
“I am excited about this collaboration to tackle the world's most urgent problem, climate change. This working relationship between California and China taps the tremendous strength of UC Berkeley in the area of environmental protection in the Law School's Center for Law, Energy, & Environment and in the College of Natural Resources,” said Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky. “My hope is that this unique endeavor will make a real difference.”
The California-China Climate Institute's expansive research will be complemented by a high-level training program that will create new opportunities for dozens of Chinese and Californian researchers and scientists, technical experts and policymakers to learn from their counterparts — and advance critical policies and programs to curb carbon emissions.
This will be achieved through close collaboration between the California-China Climate Institute, the Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development at Tsinghua University, China's national and provincial governments and California's top government agencies including, the California Public Utilities Commission, California Natural Resources Agency, California Energy Commission, California Air Resources Board, California Independent System Operator, Air Quality Management Districts and others.
“Leading universities should play a leading role in tackling the global challenge of climate change. Tsinghua University has top talent in climate change and established the ‘Global Alliance of Universities on Climate' together with 12 world-leading universities, including the University of California, Berkeley,” said Tsinghua University president Yong Qiu. “We believe that by working together, we can make our due contribution to global climate governance.”
Finally, the California-China Climate Institute will organize a series of subnational climate dialogues between top government, business and climate leaders from throughout the United States and China to foster understanding and collaboration with respect to climate policy, investment and finance. These efforts build on the first high-level United States-China subnational climate dialogue held during the Global Climate Action Summit last September in San Francisco hosted by the state of California and Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.
The California-China Climate Institute will also receive support and guidance from other University of California campuses and institutions, including UCLA, UC Davis, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and others.
Brown committed to establishing this institute after meeting with China's President Xi Jinping in Beijing and hosting a dialogue with Xie Zhenhua and more than two dozen Californian and Chinese policymakers, researchers and business leaders at Tsinghua University in 2017. This followed Brown's call for greater climate action and collaboration at Tsinghua University during an earlier trip to China as governor in 2013.
For additional information on the California-China Climate Institute, visit: https://ccci.berkeley.edu.
Berkeley joins Global Alliance of Universities on Climate
Reposted from UCB CNR news
Last month, Dean David Ackerly represented UC Berkeley in Beijing at the meeting of the executive committee and academic committee of the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate (GAUC). Ashok Gadgil, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, represented UC Berkeley at the concurrent meeting of the academic committee of the GAUC.
University leaders and academic pioneers in the field of climate change from twelve universities on six continents gathered in Tsinghua University to attend the meeting. During the meeting, the GAUC charter was discussed and approved, formally establishing the Alliance.
The founding member universities of the Alliance include Australian National University, UC Berkeley, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, the London School of Economics and Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Tokyo, Tsinghua University, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, the Indian Institute of Science, Sciences Po, and Stellenbosch University.
GAUC's mission will focus on joint research projects, talent cultivation, student exchanges, green and carbon-neutral campus implementation, and public engagement. These research and exchange activities will also include strengthening bilateral or multilateral cooperative research programs, studying technological and economic policy issues related to climate change, and the promotion of student exchange programs.
“Leading universities should play a leading role in tackling the most challenging issues confronted by humankind,” said Qiu Yong president of Tsinghua University. “This initiative is very timely and meaningful for global climate governance and for coping with the challenges of climate change worldwide.”
Farmers concerned about potential new tariffs
China has threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs on American exports following President Trump's plan to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Agricultural exports are in the crosshairs, reported Thaddeus Miller in the Merced Sun-Star.
China's tariffs would first hit U.S. products such as avocados and nuts with 15 percent duties, the article says.
"It doesn't really matter which one it is, whether it's alfalfa, almonds or wherever it may go," said David Doll, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Merced County. "They're as much political as they are anything else."
The potential tariff would have a significant impact on Merced County, where almonds are the second largest commodity valued at $578.5 million in 2016.
The back and forth trade disputes happening between the U.S. and China make trade less predictable and could lead to disruptions that impact California food and wine producers, even before potential Chinese tariffs go into effect, said Dan Sumner, director of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources' Agricultural Issues Center in an interview with Julia Mitric of Capital Public Radio.
If China hits the U.S. with a 15 percent tariff on wine, that's a problem, Sumner said.
"We may think California wine is special, but not everybody does,” Sumner said. "And if it's 15 percent more expensive than it used to be because of the tariff, there'll be a substantial reduction in how much gets sold in China."
Sumner said the proposed tariffs would likely hurt California's tree nut growers more than its wine producers because a larger proportion of almonds and pistachios are exported.
In 2016, the value of pistachios sold to China was $530 million, more than three times the value of wine exports to that country, Mitric reported.
Avocado Toast is Going to Have Lots of Orgins
'Hass' avocados are now being imported from Colombia. The US consumption of avocados has increased from about a pound per person per year in 1980 (mostly consumed in California, Florida, Arizona, Texas and Hawaii) to over 7 pounds today and eaten in most states in the country. Avocado sales in the US amounted to 350 million pounds 20 years ago, and California was the major grower and supplier of that fruit. But now consumption surpasses 1.5 Billion pounds. California production now is dwarfed by imports. The US has become a source of green gold for exporters. We are importing them from many countries: Mexico, Chile, Peru, Dominican Republic and New Zealand. Colombia is just the latest to start exporting here. Other countries are angling to ship here, as well. And not only has the US discovered avocado, but consumption is increasing world-wide and China is a major player, too.
Many countries are seeing the opportunity and plantings are also increasing many in environments that really aren't appropriate for the 'Hass' where it may be too hot, too cold, too humid or too dry. 'Hass' is a picky fruit that likes it just right. But not only is China becoming a major consumer of the fruit, it is now becoming a new producer of this fruit.
http://www.freshplaza.com/article/178128/OVERVIEW-GLOBAL-AVOCADO-MARKET
avocado fruit