Fertilizer chemicals cause developmental abnormalities in aquatic animals

  ScienceDaily (Aug. 27, 2010) — Fertilizer chemicals may pose a bigger hazard to the environment — specifically to creatures that live in water — than originally foreseen, according to new research from North Carolina State University toxicologists. In a study published in the Aug. 27 edition of PLoS ONE, the NC State researchers show […]

Farmland, water shortage may threaten China grain output

By Jin Zhu (China Daily)2010-08-27 07:34 BEIJING – The growing shortage of farmland and water resources may prevent China from achieving its ambitious grain output targets in the next decade, warned both officials and experts. Acute shortages of reserve farmland and water resources are now the main restraints for the country to ensure its food […]

Slideshow: Niger’s double disaster

BBC27 August 2010 An existing, long-term food crisis in the landlocked west African country, has now been compounded by devastating floods – which saw the River Niger rise to its highest level for more than 80 years. The UK aid agency, Oxfam, says half the population – nearly eight million people – were already facing […]

Cambodia: Record low water levels threaten livelihoods

PHNOM PENH, 26 August 2010 (IRIN) – Late rains and record low water levels in Cambodia’s two main fresh water systems will affect food security and the livelihoods of millions, government officials and NGOs warn. “We expect the impact to be very strong,” said Nao Thuok, director of the Fisheries Administration, adding that low water […]

Atrazine threat to male sexual development revealed

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, North Carolina, August 25, 2010 (ENS) – Male rats exposed before birth to low doses of the weedkiller atrazine are more likely to develop prostate inflammation and to go through puberty later than non-exposed animals, finds a new study conducted by federal government scientists. One of the most common agricultural herbicides in […]

Glaciers retreating in Asia

8/25/2010 10:33:00 AM Many of Asia’s glaciers are retreating as a result of climate change. This retreat impacts water supplies to millions of people, increases the likelihood of outburst floods that threaten life and property in nearby areas, and contributes to sea-level rise. The U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with 39 international scientists, published a […]

Higher temperatures cause longer Alaska growing season and loss of boreal forest

By Molly Rettig, Fairbanks News-Miner Monday, August 02, 2010 FAIRBANKS – One hundred years ago, the growing season in Fairbanks was less than three months long. Last year, some local gardeners were still harvesting broccoli and cabbage in mid-September. Fairbanks is 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit hotter and 11 percent drier than it was in the early […]

Pakistan flood: Irrigation canals overloaded in second wave threaten agriculture

By Catharine Paddock, PhD, Medical News Today 25 Aug 2010 – 9:00 PDT As well as losing crops and farm animals directly as a result of flooding, the people of Pakistan could be facing longer term food shortages as canals overloaded in the second wave of flooding threaten to undermine the irrigation infrastructure that the […]

Wild Southeast Asian porcupines under threat from illegal hunting

ScienceDaily (Aug. 25, 2010) — Research from the University of East Anglia, published in Biological Conservation, has shown that the consumption of the Southeast Asian porcupine (Hystrix brachyura) as a specialty food is having a devastating effect on wild populations. Overhunting has been cited as the porcupine’s greatest threat, and the 1990s saw a reported […]

Indonesia reaches ‘super-extreme level of weather’

By Nurfika OsmanAugust 19, 2010 Jakarta. Indonesia has been experiencing its most extreme weather conditions in recorded history, meteorologists warned on Wednesday as torrential rains continued to pound the capital. All regions across the archipelago have been experiencing abnormal and often catastrophic weather, an official from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said. “We […]

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