By Larry Elliott, www.guardian.co.uk2 September 2012 The last decade saw the end of cheap oil, the magic growth ingredient for the global economy after the second world war. This summer’s increase in maize, wheat and soya bean prices – the third spike in the past five years – suggests the era of cheap food is […]
By P.J. Huffstutter; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz2 September 2012 CHICAGO (Reuters) – For more than half a century, the Shew family has harvested mountains of popcorn kernels to be buttered, salted and munched by movie fans. But as a crippling Midwestern drought sends commodity soybean and grain prices soaring, the family’s farmland in west-central Indiana […]
By Larry Elliott, www.guardian.co.uk30 August 2012 The World Bank issued a global hunger warning last night after severe droughts in the US and eastern Europe sent food prices to a record high. Damage to crop harvests from exceptionally dry weather this year raised sharply the Bank’s food price index taking it above its peak in […]
By JEAN H. LEE, with additional reporting by Foster Klug30 August 2012 SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – Twin typhoons renewed fears of a humanitarian crisis in North Korea, where poor drainage, widespread deforestation and crumbling infrastructure can turn even a routine rainstorm into a catastrophic flood. Typhoon Bolaven struck the North on Tuesday and Wednesday, […]
Jilin Province, China, 29 August 2012 (CCTV/CNN) – Gales and downpours brought by Typhoon Bolaven swept through northeast China’s Jilin Province since Tuesday, flooding downtown areas and damaging farmlands. The tropical storm affected Changchun, the provincial capital, with rainfall exceeding 10 centimeters from 8 a.m. Tuesday to 8 a.m. Wednesday. The maximum precipitation reached 120.6 […]
By SAM KIM with additional reporting by Associated Press writers Hye Soo Nah, Foster Klug, and Hyung-jin Kim SEOUL, South Korea August 29, 2012 (AP) – The Korean Peninsula cleaned up Wednesday after one powerful typhoon and girded itself for another that could be particularly damaging to North Korea, which is still recovering from earlier […]
By HYUNG-JIN KIM, with additional reporting by Associated Press writers Hye Soo Nah, Foster Klug and Sam Kim in Seoul, and Annie Huang in Taipei, Taiwan28 August 2012 SEOUL, South Korea – A powerful typhoon pounded South Korea with strong winds and heavy rain Tuesday, killing nine and churning up rough seas that smashed two […]
20 August 2012 (SINA) – In Suizhou City of Hubei Province, where maximum temperatures have been as high as 35 degree centigrade, since July, insufficient rainfall over the past 25 months is endangering the drinking water supply for more than 520,000 local residents and 160,000 livestock. In Langhe Village, worst hit in Suizhou, nearly one […]
By Muneeza Naqvi, Associated Press27 August 2012 KATHURA, India (AP) – The farmer walks past muddy fields of stunted sugarcane and damaged rice paddies as a light drizzle falls. “Too late, too late,” he says of the rains he has been praying for since many weeks ago. For nearly two months, Satyavan Narwal’s eyes scoured […]
By Robert Bradfield, with photojournalist Jason Thomason13 August 2012 MAYFIELD, Kentucky – At Mayfield’s United Livestock Commodities, owner Joseph Watson is tweaking the recipe for success. “Just to be able to survive, we have to look at other sources for nutrition,” he said. His 1,400 cattle are no longer feeding off corn. The prices, Watson […]
