Caption by Mike Carlowicz, including reporting from Holli Riebeek20 September 2012 A deep and persistent drought struck vast portions of the continental United States in 2012. Though there has been some relief in the late summer, a pair of satellites operated by NASA shows that the drought lingers in the underground water supplies that are […]
By Sean Poulter12 October 2012 Families are giving up their traditional Sunday roast as the cost of both meat and vegetables soar. In fact, many are cutting back on fresh food altogether. Farmers and supermarkets are blaming the meat price explosion – which is likely to continue beyond Christmas – on the rising cost of […]
By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent; Editing by Dan Grebler9 Oct 2012 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nearly three-quarters of Americans say global warming influences U.S. weather and made this year’s record-hot summer worse, a survey said on Tuesday [pdf]. Conducted by Yale and George Mason universities, the survey found 74 percent of Americans believe that global warming […]
By Monte Morin, Los Angeles Times12 October 2012 The worst drought in half a century has plagued two-thirds of the nation, devastating farms and stoking wildfires that scorched almost 9 million acres this year. Withering heat blanketed the East Coast and Midwest, killing scores of people and making July the hottest month ever recorded in […]
12 October 2012 (United Nations) – With nearly five million Pakistanis hit by floods that have already claimed some 400 lives, ruined tens of thousands of houses and vast swathes of crops, and left hundreds of thousands living in camps or simply under tarpaulins, the United Nations today appealed for more donations to bolster relief […]
By Roshan Din Shad 10 October 2012 CHAKOTHI, Pakistan (AlertNet) – The failure of Muhammad Saddique’s maize crop following a three-month drought has left him threatened with lack of food and economic ruin. But the government of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, where Saddique lives, seems unprepared and unable to help farmers like him adapt to changing weather […]
This graph illustrates lead concentrations in spinach grown in Varanasi, India. (Singh, et al., 2010) Domestic wastewater comprises dissolved and suspended impurities from households. Untreated or insufficiently treated wastewater is typically contaminated with human excreta, which can cause traditional health risks. In recent years, domestic wastewater has been observed to contain trace quantities of pharmaceutical […]
4 October 2012 (FAO) – The FAO Food Price Index averaged 216 points in September 2012, up 3 points (1.4 percent) from August. Following two months of stability, the Index rose slightly, mostly on strengthening dairy and meat prices and more contained increases for cereals. Prices of sugar and oils fell. The FAO Cereal Price […]
By KEN WILSON26 September 2012 PICK a number and forecast global growth population by 2060. You know that by 2050 it will be nine billon. Exponentially that figure will increase to 10 billion by 2060, according to consultant Julian Cribb, author of The Coming Famine. Mr Cribb told delegates at last week’s Global Agribusiness Conference […]
By Kurt Cobb8 October 2012 Many people dismiss the risks associated with oil depletion and climate change – even many who accept the two issues as problems. They judge those risks to be small or at least manageable. Since no one can know the future, we cannot be sure whether they are right or wrong. […]