§6702 Study of Global Climate Change, Agriculture, and Forestry

Summary

The Secretary must study how global climate change affects farming and forests. For crops, the study must look at at least these things: how higher temperatures and more carbon dioxide affect important crops; how more frequent or stronger storms affect them; how changes in water patterns affect crop yields; the economic effects of more drought in the South, Midwest, and Plains States; and how warmer temperatures change pest problems. If needed, the Secretary must do follow-up work on ways to reduce harm, including whether tolerance can be bred into crops, how long breeding would take and how it would affect farmer income, how current breeding programs can help, and the potential for varieties that resist drought, pests, and salinity. The Secretary must also study methane, nitrous oxide, and hydrocarbon emissions from tropical and temperate forests, how those emissions affect climate, how climate change may change the emissions, and how forest management can reduce them. That study must measure emissions, predict how they will respond to climate change, and identify management strategies to reduce harm. Reports on the crop and forest studies are due within 3 and 6 years, respectively, after November 28, 1990, to the House Committees on Agriculture and on Science, Space, and Technology, and to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. The Secretary must also send yearly interim reports with recommendations to reduce harm and adapt to climate changes.