By David Fogarty, with additional reporting by Gerard Wynn in London, Erik Dela Cruz in Manila, and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Bill Tarrant10 Jun 2011 CANBERRA (Reuters) – Charlie Bragg gazes across his lush fields where fat lambs are grazing, his reservoirs filled with water, and issues a sigh of relief. Things are […]
Contact: George KourousFAO Media Relations (Rome)(+39) 06 570 53168(+39) 348 141 6802george.kourous@fao.org 9 June 2011, Rome – Climate change will have major impacts on the availability of water for growing food and on crop productivity in the decades to come, warns a new FAO report. Climate Change, Water, and Food Security is a comprehensive survey […]
By Larry Elliott, economics editor, www.guardian.co.uk 8 June 2011 A fresh surge in oil prices and a rise in the cost of food pose the biggest threats to the recovery of poor countries from the global recession of 2008 and 2009, according to the World Bank. In its latest economic health check, the Washington-based Bank […]
By Peggy Hollinger in Paris, Chris Bryant in Vienna, and Gerrit Wiesmann in BerlinJune 8 2011 Europe is in the grip of a new north-south divide. Yet this time the gap is not about economic competitiveness but rainfall, and it is the north, not the south, that is lagging behind. While southern Europe experienced a […]
Feeding the world by 2050 will require increasing agricultural output by 70 percent. To achieve this, agricultural productivity will need to grow at an annual average rate of at least 1.75 percent from a relatively fixed bundle of agricultural resources given growing regional scarcities of water and arable land. As noted earlier, over the past […]
Contact: Jeff Miller, (415) 669-7357 June 8, 2011 SAN FRANCISCO— In one of the largest fish kills in California history, new federal data show, the Central Valley Project and State Water Project pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta have killed more than 6 million Sacramento splittail in the past six weeks and more than 51,000 […]
By Carey Gillam; Editing by John Picinich7 Jun 2011 KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) – High-tech seeds and innovations in chemicals and farming will not be enough to solve looming food shortages for the world, according to a report issued Tuesday by a committee formed by food and chemicals conglomerate DuPont. Billions of dollars in private […]
An op-ed by Bill McKibben, author and founder of 350.org, narrated and illustrated by Stephen Thomson of Plomomedia.com Caution: It is vitally important not to make connections. When you see pictures of rubble like this week’s shots from Joplin, Mo., you should not wonder: Is this somehow related to the tornado outbreak three weeks ago […]
By Jonathan Watts3 June 2011 The Chinese government issued its annual “State of the Environment” report on Friday. Here are the highlights along with my interpretation and year-end grade for each subject based on the following standard: A – World classB – GoodC – PassableD – Poor but showing signs of improvementE – Poor and […]
June 7 (Asahi Shimbun) – Residents outside the planned evacuation zone near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant are trying to lead normal lives, but radiation levels exceeding the safety standard are posing an increasing threat. A report released June 3 by the science ministry said annual accumulated radiation levels are estimated at 20.1, […]
