By Rudy RuitenbergJan 5, 2011 4:24 AM PT World food prices rose to a record in December on higher sugar, grain and oilseed costs, the United Nations said, exceeding levels reached in 2008 that sparked deadly riots from Haiti to Egypt. An index of 55 food commodities tracked by the Food and Agriculture Organization gained […]
Aquatic Research4 January 2011 Examination of deep sea corals reveals that there have been drastic changes to oceanic currents in the western North Atlantic since the 1970s. The influence of the cold water Labrador Current, which is in periodic interchange with the warm Gulf Stream, has been decreasing continually since the 1970s. Occurring at the […]
By Mason Inman for National Geographic News Published December 31, 2010 This story is part of a special National Geographic News series on global water issues. Nearly a third of India is suffering from chronic water shortages, and making up for it with “the world’s largest groundwater mining operation,” according to experts. A band of […]
Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Created by Daniel MagnowskiTue Jan 4, 2011 BEIJING Jan 4 (Reuters) – At the current rate of progress it will take 300 years to turn back China’s advancing deserts, a senior official said on Tuesday, bemoaning the low level of investment in fighting a serious environmental problem. Over a quarter of […]
By Daniel Munoz; Reporting and writing by Michael Perry in Sydney; Additional reporting by James Regan in Sydney, James Grubel in Canberra and Rebekah Kebede in Perth; Editing by Mark Bendeich and Alex RichardsonTue Jan 4, 2011 9:24pm EST ROCKHAMPTON, Australia (Reuters) – Australia’s record floods are causing catastrophic damage to infrastructure in the state […]
AUSTRALIA – Floods covering an area the size of France and Germany combined in north-eastern Australia have washed out crops and inundated coal mines, pushing up commodity prices and possibly reducing the national growth rate, economists said on Tuesday. Floods threaten Australia’s financial health, economists say Technorati Tags: Australia,flood,global warming,climate change,agriculture
Federal forecasters say it is likely that Lake Mead will receive a larger than usual release of water from Lake Powell in the coming year, as conditions in the two reservoirs approach a trigger point for so-called “equalization.” The extra water for Lake Mead — 9 million acre-feet instead of the standard 8.23 million acre-feet […]
By Alex RentonSunday, 2 January 2011 Naryamaswamy Naik went to the cupboard and took out a tin of pesticide. Then he stood before his wife and children and drank it. “I don’t know how much he had borrowed. I asked him, but he wouldn’t say,” Sugali Nagamma said, her tiny grandson playing at her feet. […]
Munich ReMunich, 3 January 2011 Several major catastrophes in 2010 resulted in substantial losses and an exceptionally high number of fatalities. The overall picture last year was dominated by an accumulation of severe earthquakes to an extent seldom experienced in recent decades. The high number of weather-related natural catastrophes and record temperatures both globally and […]
CBC NewsLast Updated: Monday, January 3, 2011 | 6:46 PM CST A lack of sea ice in parts of Canada’s eastern Arctic is contributing to unusually mild temperatures in Nunavut, according to scientists. In recent months, the weather in many parts of Nunavut has been 10 to 12 degrees above the –20 and –30 C […]
