By Todd Woody20 May 2013 (Quartz) – A report released today by the US Geological Survey (USGS) today shows that Americans are sucking dry the aquifers that irrigate their crops and supply their drinking water. Between 1900 and 2008, the US lost 1,000 cubic kilometers (240 cubic miles) of groundwater. That’s twice the volume of […]
By MICHAEL WINES 19 May 2013 HASKELL COUNTY, Kansas (The New York Times) – Forty-nine years ago, Ashley Yost’s grandfather sank a well deep into a half-mile square of rich Kansas farmland. He struck an artery of water so prodigious that he could pump 1,600 gallons to the surface every minute. Last year, Mr. Yost […]
By Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Jo Winterbottom and Ed Davies24 April 2013 JAMWADI, India (Reuters) – India may be heading for another bumper grain harvest, if the first forecast for this year’s monsoon proves correct, but the rain may be too little – and too late – for southern and western states already parched by […]
ZURICH, 27 March 2013 (Swiss Re) – Natural catastrophes and man-made disasters cost society about USD 186 billion in 2012. Most of the losses were due to Hurricane Sandy, which devastated the northeastern coast of the US. The storm also affected the Caribbean and Canada, making it the largest North Atlantic hurricane on record in […]
By Bill Briggs16 May 2013 (NBC News) – American eaters, let’s talk about the birds and the bees: The U.S. food supply – from chickens injected with arsenic to dying bee colonies – is under unprecedented siege from a blitz of man-made hazards, meaning some of your favorite treats someday may vanish from your plate, […]
By Brenda Ekwurzel15 May 2013 (UCS) – November, President Obama suggested that we needed a wide-ranging national discussion about climate change. But where to have that conversation? There are so many stories from communities that are on the front lines of climate change, grappling with ways to cope and looking for options. Here are ten […]
By Robin McKie, science editor 11 May 2013 (The Observer) – It is increasingly likely that hundreds of millions of people will be displaced from their homelands in the near future as a result of global warming. That is the stark warning of economist and climate change expert Lord Stern following the news last week […]
By Roxana Hegeman11 May 2013 (AP) – The winter wheat crop is expected to be far smaller this season compared to last, particularly for hard red varieties used in bread, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported Friday. In the first government projection on the harvest’s anticipated size, the National Agricultural Statistics Service estimated winter wheat […]
By Joe Wertz 6 May 2013 (NPR) – “Extreme” and “exceptional” drought persists throughout much of the state, especially in southwestern Oklahoma. Low reservoir levels have forced city officials in Altus to issue emergency water restrictions, and Oklahomans throughout the region are worried about the future. Associated Press reporter Sharon Cohen interviewed Kent Walker, a […]
By Dr. Jeff Masters3 May 2013 (wunderground.com) – The water content of the snowpack in the Southern Sierra Mountains of California, from San Joaquin through Kern and Owens, was 9% of average for the date on 2 May 2013 (and 7% of the average for April 1.) The snowpack is usually not this thin until […]
