Innovative concepts explored in the virtual workshop series
Global Teleconnections
are complex sets of human interactions driven largely by global trade
that have environmental consequences in places widely separated in
space. An example of such socially driven teleconnections is clearly
shown by recent work on virtual water by Oki, Chapagain and Hoekstra,
(2003). This concept refers to the water necessary to produce grain
or meat that is subsequently shipped to some place distant from where
it was originally produced, with the result that the receiving nation
gets the benefit of the end product without incurring the water costs
of producing the food. The Japanese import more virtual water than
they withdraw for internal consumption. For this purpose, the majority
of water comes from the United States and Australia, the latter a
water-poor country. Globally, it has been calculated that 15-20% of
the total global water use for agricultural production is virtual
water trade—695 Gm3/yr in crops and 245 Gm3/yr for livestock
and livestock products (Chapagain and Hoekstra, 2003).
In addition to
investigating the complex issues surrounding the transfer of virtual
water and nutrients in the global context of industrialized animal
production systems, a national scales component was added to the assessment
with the intent to emphasize key implications of the industry at local
scales. Preliminary calculations indicate very interesting trends
for specific countries. These trends underscore the differing sources
and sinks for nutrients and water, and highlight industrial determinants
of change and potential impacts. These preliminary findings support
the need for further analysis to identify hidden global teleconnections
for both water and nitrogen.