Drought-stricken ranchers lose hope U.S. Congress will provide money for feed in time to save herds

OMAHA, Nebraska, 19 August 2012 (AP) – It’s hard to tell what frustrates Todd Eggerling more – the weather or Congress. Searing temperatures and drought scorched Eggerling’s land in southeast Nebraska, leaving little grass to feed his 100 cattle. Then Congress left for a five-week break without agreeing on aid to help ranchers through one […]

Climate change poses risks to food supplies beyond U.S. drought

By Alister Doyle17 August 2012 Downpours and heat waves caused by climate change could disrupt food supplies from the fields to the supermarkets, raising the risk of more price spikes such as this year’s leap triggered by drought in the United States. Food security experts working on a chapter in a U.N. overview of global […]

Representative Paul Ryan’s anti-environment voting history

By Farron Cousins13 August 12 With the selection of Wisconsin Republican Representative Paul Ryan has his running mate, Mitt Romney has effectively pushed his campaign into the climate change denying fringe. While Romney hasn’t been considered a friend of the environment since he began running for national office, his tendency towards flip-flopping made some of […]

Image of the Day: Satellite view of smoke from Russia wildfires approaching North America

11 August 2012 (NASA) – The fires that have been plaguing Russia for months are causing smoke to drift across the Pacific Ocean towards North America. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image on August 8, 2012 at 21:50 UTC. In this image a broad band of gray […]

Water shortages hit U.S. power supply

By Sara Reardon 15 August 2012 As the United States’ extended heat wave and drought threaten to raise global food prices, energy production is also feeling the pressure. Across the nation, power plants are becoming overheated and shutting down or running at lower capacity; drilling operations struggle to get the water they need, and crops […]

World over-using underground water reserves for agriculture

By Chris Wickham; Editing by Mark Heinrich10 August 2012 LONDON (Reuters) – The world is depleting underground water reserves faster than they can be replenished due to over-exploitation, according to scientists in Canada and the Netherlands. The researchers, from McGill University in Montreal and Utrecht University in the Netherlands, combined groundwater usage data from around […]

Emergency well drilling brings relief to U.S. farmers stricken by drought

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy By Thanh Truong, NBC News14 August 2012 WARREN COUNTY, Missouri – There’s a desperate search for water under way throughout Missouri where 95 percent of the state is enduring extreme levels of drought.  In the rural area of Truxton, farmer Rusty Lee estimates […]

Firefighter killed as wildfires rage across the U.S. West

14 August 2012 (NBC News) – Wildfires raged in several Western states on Tuesday, destroying dozens of homes and threatening hundreds more. In Idaho, one firefighter was killed by a falling tree. A fire in central Washington grew rapidly overnight and destroyed more than 60 homes, spurring the state’s governor to declare an emergency in […]

FAO Food Price Index up 6 percent – ‘Severe deterioration of U.S. maize crop’

Rome, 9 August 2012 (FAO) – The FAO Food Price Index climbed 6 percent in July 2012 after three months of decline. The Index, which measures  the monthly change in the international prices of a basket of food commodities, averaged 213 points, up 12 points from June. That was still well below the peak of […]

Giant Asian tiger prawn invade Gulf of Mexico waters

By Mark Strassmann13 August 2012 DULAC, Louisiana – Shrimping season opened Monday off Louisiana and fishermen can’t get over what they’re now finding in their nets. Some say the coastline is under invasion. The giant invaders are valuable, but may be destroying the Gulf ecosystem. From Texas to North Carolina, fishermen have been catching giant […]

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