By Lester Brown12 Feb 2010 4:51 AM …World food production continues to increase, yet the rate at which it is increasing has slowed. From 1970 to 1990, world grain production grew by 64 percent. From 1990 to 2009, it increased by only 24 percent. Past growth in agricultural production was fueled in part by expanding […]
ScienceDaily (Apr. 22, 2010) — African farmers risk being forced from their lands by investors or government projects as global demand for biofuels encourages changes in crop cultivation. Research from the University of Edinburgh has found that livelihoods may be put at risk if African farmland is turned over to growing crops for biofuel. With […]
By Zara Maungguardian.co.uk, Monday 19 April 2010 12.35 BST A report co-written by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and HSBC Climate Change Centre of Excellence claims that food supply chains in India and south-east Asia are under serious threat from changing climatic conditions. Aquaculture in the region, including farmed Thai shrimps and Vietnamese catfish are […]
By Richard BlackEnvironment correspondent, BBC NewsMonday, 19 April 2010 01:12 UK The amount of water used to produce food and goods imported by developed countries is worsening water shortages in the developing world, a report says. The report, focusing on the UK, says two-thirds of the water used to make UK imports is used outside […]
By Jeremy Clarke and Antony Gitonga; additional reporting by Duncan Miriri and Elias Biryabarema in Nairobi, Barry Malone in Addis Ababa; Editing by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura and Giles ElgoodMon Apr 19, 2010 4:24pm EDT NAIVASHA, Kenya (Reuters) – Kenyan flower farmer Jack Kneppers was forced on Monday to throw 6.5 tons of his exquisite roses into […]
By ANDREW WHALEN, Associated Press Writer – 18 April 2010 CERRO DE PASCO, Peru – The mile-wide gash grows almost daily with each dynamite blast, slowly devouring this bleak provincial capital high in the Andes. The half-century-old, open-pit zinc and lead mine belches streamers of dust that coat homes. The soil is so contaminated, indigenous […]
For central Australia, the late summer and early fall of 2010 was eventful, starting with rain, and leading to floods, plants, and finally insects. Between the end of February and early March, unusually heavy rain fell across Australia’s dry interior. Parts of central Australia received more rain in 11 days than they usually do in […]
Arable land expansion has slowed down substantially in the last 50 years. This implies that much of the best arable land is already in use. Land Commodities: Investment Fundamentals Technorati Tags: soil degradation,desertification,agriculture,deforestation,habitat loss,drought,freshwater depletion
Stinging nettles have become the most common plants in the British countryside, while more delicate flowers like harebells and orchids are struggling to survive, according to a survey. By Louise Gray, Environment CorrespondentPublished: 8:00AM BST 17 Apr 2010 The annual survey of wild flowers by the charity Plantlife found plants that can tolerate high levels […]
Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton (Reuters) – South Africa will increasingly use desalinated seawater to meet growing demand for drinking water in coastal towns facing the worst drought in 150 years, the country’s water minister said Thursday. South Africa is a water-scarce country with an average rainfall of 450 millimeters — […]
