news main page     more news     canaries      essential      positive      archive     rss   Soybeans Rise as Drought May Reduce Production in Argentina - Bloomberg Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Soybean prices rose on speculation that dry weather will damage crops in Argentina, the world's biggest exporter of vegetable oil and animal feed made from the commodity. 1st February 2009 Wheat Gains on Speculation Argentine Drought Will Crimp Supply - Bloomberg Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Wheat rose for a third session on speculation drought in Argentina, the fourth-biggest exporter last year, will crimp global supply and boost demand for U.S. supply. 27th January 2009 Food warning - BBC The UN meets to debate rising food prices. Although prices have fallen from the highs recorded during the unprecedented spike at the beginning of 2008, they have not fallen back to where they had been before the crisis began. And many of the factors that contributed to the rise then are still driving prices up. These include competition with biofuels for scarce land, worsening agricultural productivity, the increasing proportion of people living in cities, and the effects of climate change threatening harvests. 26th January 2009 food news  Tea prices tipped to hit a record high after drought - Daily Mail Tea prices tipped to hit a record high after drought 28th June 2009 Q&A: Water Scarcity Threatens Half the Planet - IPS ROME, Jun 25 (Tierramerica) - If the world's governments fail to reach an immediate agreement on how to manage water resources by 2030, half the planet's population will not have enough water to survive, scientist Jonathan Baillie told Tierramerica. 26th June 2009 The oil intensity of food - Grist Today we are an oil-based civilization, one that is totally dependent on a resource whose production will soon be falling. This prospect of peaking oil production has direct consequences for world food security, as modern agriculture depends heavily on the use of fossil fuels. 26th June 2009 Mexico's gamble - BBC News Can Mexico have a green energy policy and feed its poor? 26th June 2009 India monsoon rain 'below normal' - BBC Indian officials say that monsoon rains in the country are likely to be "below normal" leading to fears about crop failure and higher food prices. 25th June 2009 Is eating soya causing damage to the planet? - Guardian Growing soybeans has serious eco consequences - but they're not what you may think. Time to spill the beans, says Lucy SiegleA number of upset vegetarians and vegans have been in touch to say they've been accused by acquaintances of causing planetary damage through their tofu and soya-milk consumption, given that soya production has become synonymous with deforestation. The first thing I should do is to explain that although Europe imports 39m tonnes of soya a year (imagine it contained in 15 miles' worth of lorries bumper to bumper), 90% is destined for animal feed. It's beef rather than veggie burgers that ate all the soybean. 23rd June 2009 Warming could cut rice production by 75 percent - The Manila Times RICE production will decline by as much as 75 percent in the Philippines if it is not quick enough to adapt to and put in place safeguards against climate change.The decline starts in 2020, according to a study made by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and released this week during a high level regional meeting on the impact of climate change in Asia and the Pacific. 20th June 2009 African farms becoming too hot to handle - New Scientist Climate change means farmers will soon face growing seasons hotter than any in their experience and must urgently seek viable alternative crops for the future See also: African food security threatened - The Times AFRICA: What will we eat in the future? - Reuters AlertNet 18th June 2009 The Food Crisis And The Global Scramble For Farmlands - CounterCurrents By Sam Urquhart Governments - concerned about future food security - have been furiously signing deals with other governments across the world. Saudi Arabia has tied up 25,000 ha in Sudan to grow corn, soy and wheat, with Jordan and Syria inking similar deals. China has reportedly signed numerous deals, as in Laos , where a state rubber company has acquired 160,000 ha, and Mozambique , where 10,000 settlers are reportedly set to assist in the conversion of thousands of hectares to export crop production. Even tiny Mauritius has agreed a deal with Mozambique to farm 5,000 ha of land in a country where over 50 percent of the people live on less than a dollar a day 18th June 2009 Drought fears on the Prairies prompt call for disaster plan - CBC.ca Canada:  Pressure is mounting on the federal government to come up with some kind of disaster plan in preparation for what some are warning could be a devastating drought in Western Canada. See also: Alberta county declares 'state of agricultural disaster' over drought - CBC.ca 18th June 2009 Rising acidity levels could trigger shellfish revenue declines, job losses - PhysOrg hanges in ocean chemistry -- a consequence of increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from human industrial activity - could cause U.S. shellfish revenues to drop significantly in the next 50 years, according to a new study by researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. 18th June 2009 Thirsty crops - BBC How will drier summers affect UK farms? 18th June 2009 Food & agriculture - Energy Bulletin Advanced Worm Composting Agriculture Offsets -- a Savior or a Boondoggle? Reality Report: Michael Bomford Interview: Do We Need Fossil Fuels to Feed Ourselves? Crop to Cuisine: Food & Wine Magazine Celebrates Sustainable Food in Aspen 18th June 2009 India Tea Output to Drop on Drought-Like Weather, Board Says - Bloomberg June 18 (Bloomberg) -- Tea production in India, the world s largest grower, may decline at least 5 percent this year after dry weather damaged crops in the nation s main growing region, likely boosting global prices. 18th June 2009 Abrupt Global Warming Could Shift Monsoon Patterns, Hurt Agriculture - Science Daily At times in the distant past, an abrupt change in climate has been associated with a shift of seasonal monsoons to the south, a new study concludes, causing more rain to fall over the oceans than in the Earth's tropical regions, and leading to a dramatic drop in global vegetation growth. 12th June 2009 When it comes to food, we’re all in this together - Grist Teenagers and nations like to declare independence. But for a long time now, humans have relied on a broad, global, and utterly interdependent genetic and cultural basis for food production. 12th June 2009 Indian farmers to insure themselves against climate change crop failure - Guardian For more than half a million farmers in rural India the age old fear of crops failing due to bad weather could soon be banished, thanks to an innovative insurance scheme that UN negotiators gathering in Bonn this week are considering as a central component of climate change adaptation measures in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Following a successful trial last month, MicroEnsure, a company specialising in providing insurance to poor communities, plans to launch a scheme next year for up to 600,000 farmers in India's Kolhapur province allowing them to insure against their rice crops failing due to drought or heavy rains during the plants' flowering period. 8th June 2009 California's Water Woes Threaten the Entire Country's Food Supply - Alternet Nearly a third of the country's food supply comes from California, but drought there may be a catastrophe for farmers -- and the rest of us. 6th June 2009 Managing World Water - Foreign Policy In Focus With climate change deepening the water crisis, wonky discussions of how to manage our water systems are suddenly attracting increased public attention. "Unlike oil, there's no substitute for fresh water," says Maude Barlow, senior advisor on water to the president of the United Nations General Assembly. "We all need it." 6th June 2009 Wars over water? - PakTribune.com According to reports and studies, the scarcity of water in regions like the Middle East is reaching crisis proportions, and some analysts have even warned that full-scale wars could erupt over fresh water resources. A similar scenario is being predicted for the Indian subcontinent, whose main river systems are fed by the Himalayan glacial system. This glacial system is extremely important not only because of the water it supplies to the rivers, but also because it acts as a reflecting mirror which in turn guards against the planet overheating. In fact, some have even termed it the “third pole”. 5th June 2009 The 'end of the line' for world's oceans - Aberdeen Press and Journal OVER-FISHING of the world’s oceans ranks beside climate change as one of the biggest problems facing humans this century. The warning came from journalist Charles Clover, before the launch of his film on fishing, The End of the Line. See also: A place at the table? These are not the mariners of old but pirates who make bureaucrats blanch What we do to the oceans we do to ourselves - Georgia Straight 3rd June 2009 Year of the hungry: 1000000000 afflicted - ZNet The worst is yet to come, taking the number of hungry beyond the one billion mark. As food prices fall, the FAO is reporting signs that farmers in Europe and North America are reducing their plantings for next year's harvest - and the same thing is likely to happen in the Third World as the lack of credit stops its farmers from being able to buy the food and agricultural chemicals they need. So next year's harvest, it is feared, will be smaller, even if the weather remains good. The run of good seasons is unlikely to continue for long, even in the short run. And in the medium to long term, climate change is expected to make harvests dramatically worse. Mr Diouf predicts that, if the world fails to take urgent action to keep global warming beneath 2C, the emerging international target, "the global food production potential can be expected to contract severely" - with harvests dropping by up to 40 per cent in Africa, Asia and Latin America. 3rd June 2009 Climate change models find staple crops face ruin on up to one million square Km of African farmland - EurekAlert! A new study by researchers from the Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute and the United Kingdom's Waen Associates has found that by 2050, hotter conditions, coupled with shifting rainfall patterns, could make anywhere from 500,000 to one million square kilometers of marginal African farmland no longer able to support even a subsistence level of food crops. [Possibly biased solution - research sponsored by the International Livestock Research Institute] 3rd June 2009 Drought in Northeastern China May Worsen, Weather Bureau Says - Bloomberg June 1 (Bloomberg) -- A drought in northeastern China, the nation s top soybean-producing region, may worsen this month, the weather office said. Parts of the Inner Mongolian region and Heilongjiang province had the lowest May rainfall since 1951, and hot, dry weather forecast for June may worsen conditions for farmers, the National Meteorological Center said in a statement on its Web site today. 1st June 2009 'Winter drought affects food production' - Nepalnews. com A joint assessment by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC), the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has revealed that winter drought has led to a severe drop in crop production in Nepal, placing more than two million people at high risk of food insecurity. 28th May 2009 ENVIRONMENT: Extraordinary Abundance of Life in Oceans Past - IPS UXBRIDGE, Canada, May 26 (IPS) - Imagine large pods of mighty blue whales and orcas darkening the waters off Cornwall, England, while closer to shore blue sharks and thresher sharks chase herds of harbour porpoise and dolphins. See also: The critical role of ocean history in the ocean future 27th May 2009 Filmmaker warns of 'world without fish' - Ballard News Tribune Filmmaker warns of 'world without fish'Ballard News Tribune, WAHe said ocean acidification has been overpowered by the concern over global warming and climate change, and scientists are only recently starting to look at it. Huseby himself became aware of and concerned by ocean acidification while reading a 2006 ... 19th May 2009 Farmers hit by changing rainfall patterns - Reuters AlertNet PHILIPPINES: Climate change is taking its toll on farming in the Philippines, with more than US$27 million damage done to crops and livestock by typhoons Kujira and Chan-hom. The heavy rains unleashed by the two back-to back-typhoons earlier this month are generally not expected until June. However, according to specialists, climate change will disrupt the planting calendar, affecting the quality of crops and ultimately the economy. "Right now, our mongo should be flowering. It is our big source of additional income after the rice crops are harvested [in April]. It never used to rain like this before. The rains are very unusual. Sad to say, other farmers who planted mongo cannot earn from them. They will die with so much water," Luciano told IRIN. "I have been farming for 20 years. I can feel the changing weather conditions. When it's cold, it's very cold. When it's hot, it's really hot," Luciano added. See also: Starvation making a comeback? - Naples Daily News 18th May 2009 Seed bank 'saving' for the future - BBC Highlands Journalist Tearlach Quinnell takes a look at a project aimed at collecting and storing seeds in case of future food shortages. 14th May 2009 Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization? - Alternet Finally someone is listening to Lester Brown and his warnings of a collapse in our food supplies, as a new article reveals in Scientific American. 13th May 2009 'Coral triangle' a global emergency - ABC Online Australian scientists are warning of the possibility of a future wave of economic refugees from south-east Asia and the Pacific if one of the world's most important marine ecosystems is devastated by climate change. It is the loss of food stocks that has scientists like Professor Hoegh-Guldberg most concerned. More than 150 million people, many already poor, live on the shores of the coral triangle, relying on its bounty for food. "By the end of the century under the worst case scenario we could see as much as 90 per cent of those food resources having eroded," he said. "You start to see that you are now destabilising human communities through the fact that there is just not enough food. So where do they go? We'll almost invariably see an increased level of pressure on Australia and New Zealand to provide the sort of intake that needs to alleviate these problems." 13th May 2009 Worst drought in decade deepens Somalia crisis: U.N. - Reuters GENEVA (Reuters) - Somalia's worst drought in a decade is pushing growing numbers of children into near-famine conditions and deepening the humanitarian crisis caused by political violence, the United Nations warned Tuesday. 13th May 2009 Wild fruit trees face extinction - BBC Exploitation is threatening the forests in central Asia, home to the fruit trees that could help secure our future food supply. See also: Biodiversity is the spark of life - BBC News 8th May 2009 Shrimp tuned to ocean temperature - BBC Sensitive shrimp stocks could plummet if the north Atlantic ocean warms up as predicted, say researchers. 8th May 2009 Fertilisers 'reducing diversity' Excess fertilisation reduces plant diversity, as fast growing species block some plants' access to sunlight, a study shows. 2nd May 2009 Climate change to cut rice output–ADB - Inquirer.net MANILA, Philippines—Rice production in the country is forecast to fall by three-fourths from current levels in 10 years if nothing is done to mitigate and adapt to climate change, the Asian Development Bank said Tuesday. Zhuang Juzhong, the ADB assistant chief economist, said rice production could fall from 50 to 70 percent by 2020. He said this decline could continue until the end of this century, “if there is a business-as-usual attitude toward climate change.” 29th April 2009 SOUTHERN AFRICA: Climate Change to Shrink Agricultural Production by Half DURBAN, Apr 21 (IPS) - Environmental researchers predict Southern Africa will be hit heavily by climate change over the next 70 years. Agricultural production is projected to be halved - a development that will threaten the livelihoods of farmers in a region where 70 percent of the population are smallholder farmers. 22nd April 2009 PERU: Water Isn't for Everyone - IPS LIMA, Apr 18 (IPS/IFEJ) - The melting of glaciers resulting from climate change and the lack of adequate water management policies seem to be the main causes behind the water shortages that are fuelling conflicts in Peru. 18th April 2009 When Britain's taps run dry - u.tv They could soon be packing up and shipping out of Adelaide. Three years of intense drought on the River Murray, which fills the city's taps, mean the capital of South Australia could run out of water within two years. 18th April 2009 Stopping climate change - and starvation - San Luis Obispo Tribune Examining 23 global climate models, two leading U.S. climatologists recently determined that there's more than a 90 percent chance that by the end of the century, the average growing season temperatures in the tropics and subtropics will "exceed the most extreme seasonal temperatures recorded from 1900 to 2006." In other words, by 2100 the sweltering heat seen during the summer of 2003 could become a common occurrence - potentially causing food and water shortages for up to half of the world's population. 17th April 2009 Water Fight - TIME Asias population is expected to grow by nearly 500 million people over the next 10 years — combined with climate change will likely mean that far more Asians will be tapping shrinking sources of water. Water wouldn't be a sole trigger for war but rather a "threat multiplier" — a factor that worsens the social instability that can lead to conflict. 17th April 2009 Cattle, not soy, drives Amazon deforestation - Reuters BRASILIA (Reuters) - Cattle ranchers are far bigger culprits in Amazon deforestation than soy farmers, a study showed on Tuesday, as the environmental record of Brazil's commodity exporters comes under increasing international scrutiny. 16th April 2009 Government programs paying farms to grow water-thirsty crops - The Durango Herald FRESNO, Calif. - As drought forces families in the West to shorten their showers and let their lawns turn brown, two Depression-era government programs have been paying some of the nation's biggest farms hundreds of millions of dollars to grow water-thirsty crops in what was once desert. 16th April 2009 Changing climate will lead to devastating loss of phosphorus from soil - PhysOrg Crop growth, drinking water and recreational water sports could all be adversely affected if predicted changes in rainfall patterns over the coming years prove true, according to research published this month in Biology and Fertility of Soils. 16th April 2009 Could Bangladesh Become Another Somalia - Media For Freedom One of the very critical effects of climate change is likely to be its impact on the world’s food supply. Scientists are predicting that world harvests will drop 20 to 40 per cent by the end of this century as a result of global warming. So the most crucial issue is: if in the current environment Bangladesh can’t meet its food requirements, how will it tackle the anticipated massive food shortage that would be created by its increases of population and the loss of farmland when world food supply goes down further? 16th April 2009 Arctic food is poisoned as ice melts - New Scientist Mercury levels in seals and beluga whales eaten by the Inuit are reaching unsafe levels – and the problem is likely to get worse 16th April 2009 Dry Taps in Mexico City: A Water Crisis Gets Worse - Time Magazine Faced with a collapsing delivery system and the likely effects of global warming, the hemisphere's largest city turns off the tap to try to save water 11th April 2009 G8 Document On World Hunger Warns Of Global Instability - CounterCurrents By Hiram Lee A document prepared by the Group of Eight, or G8, countries for its inaugural summit of agricultural ministers entitled The Global Challenge: To Reduce Food Emergency was leaked to the press this week, revealing the G8s concerns of global instability arising from a worldwide food crisis 11th April 2009 Global Warming Will Cost American Corn Growers Billions - DigitalJournal.com Report: Global warming could cost American corn growers $1.4 billion a year, according to a new report by Environment America that is contrary to conventional wisdom that global warming will be good for U.S. agriculture. 11th April 2009 Big Ag: give us carbon credit, but don't cap our emissions- Grist As Congress gears up to consider climate legislation, agribusiness is getting sweaty palms-and for good reason. 10th April 2009 Want to save the planet? Tuck in to some jellyfish and chips, squid sausages and algae burgers - Independent In a recently published census of marine life, Canadian scientists predicted that, if the rate of collapse of fish species continues, none of the fish we now pile on our plates will be around in 2050. Which begs the question, what will we eat? Causes include pollution – more than 30 per cent of our estuaries and 15 per cent of coastal waters are at risk from nutrients, pesticides and heavy metals – and climate change. But perhaps the biggest culprit is overfishing. 9th April 2009 Big Lunch puts the food we eat back high up the environmental menu - Guardian Our dependence on energy and food from overseas makes us vulnerable to political and climatic aggressionIn just three short years, the environment has returned to the front pages with a vengeance, even if the G20 managed to relegate it to the end of their communique.Near the top of the environmental agenda is food and its production. Whether it be at the macro level of food security or the micro, or the way in which we grow it or the health benefits of growing your own, today's focus on food is, for me, qualitatively different to previous lifestyle magazine exhortations to "grow our own". 7th April 2009 World's poor face malnutrition threat - Guardian Unlimited Poor harvests, drought and rising food prices could have serious health implications for people living in developing countries Hellen Apale knows how important it is that her children get a good diet. She knows that at eight months pregnant, she needs to be eating well and eating regularly for the health of her unborn baby. The problem is she has no food. "We had a really bad harvest, there was ... 3rd April 2009 Report presents new research on climate change effects in California - UC Newsroom Scripps contribute to assessment concluding that loss of ag land, increased wildfire risk among potential outcomes. 2nd April 2009 Climate change fears for deadly virus outbreaks in livestock - PhysOrg Global warming could have chilling consequences for European livestock, warned Professor Peter Mertens from the Institute for Animal Health, at this week's meeting of the Society for General Microbiology in Harrogate. 1st April 2009 Plant Growth Discovery to Impact Crop Production as Climate Change ... - AZoCleantech Dr Kerry Franklin, from the University of Leicester Department of Biology led the study which has identified a single gene responsible for controlling plant growth responses to elevated temperature. Dr Franklin said: "Exposure of plants to high temperature results in the rapid elongation of stems and a dramatic upwards elevation of leaves". "These responses are accompanied by a significant reduction in plant biomass, thereby severely reducing harvest yield."S 1st April 2009 Drought hits sugar output - Bangkok Post - Thailand's English news Thailand may produce at least 3.8% less sugar this year because of drought has cut cane output, a government official said on Monday. 31st March 2009 Europe warned about looming food import surge - EUActiv Former EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler last week called on Europe to significantly contribute to world food security by fulfilling its "production potential", as the continent moves from being a net exporter of foodstuffs to become a net importer. 25th March 2009 Nigeria: 'Fishermen Use Chemicals to Catch Fish Out of Desperation' - AllAfrica.com Nigeria: Dr M.I. Ahmed explains how global warming has forced some fishermen to use organophosphorus chemicals to catch fish and the implications of eating this fish by man. 23rd March 2009 Second Year Of Drought Devastates Iraqi Agriculture - Payvand Iran News A prolonged drought has hit the region extending from Turkey to Afghanistan, and farmers in many areas are losing hope that it will ever end. For two years, the fields of Iraq have been covered in dust, which is whipped up into dust storms on windy days. -Charles Recknagel, RFE 22nd March 2009 High and dry on the California farm - Reuters At lunchtime in California's San Joaquin Valley, farmers meet up at Jack's Prime Time Restaurant, where they can get a good, honest meal … just what one expects from an establishment smack dab in the middle of the most productive farming region in the world. But the mood at Jack's is decidely somber. A few days earlier, the farmers in these parts were told not to expect any federally supplied water this year due to a third year of drought and low levels in the reservoirs.  Without water, they can't plant their lettuce and tomatoes, and they may lose parts of their precious almond and pistachio orchards. 14th March 2009 Climate change affecting agriculture in Karachi - The News International Researchers from the University of Karachi (KU) Department of Geography have discovered the relationship between climate change and increase in the incidence of diseases, and the decrease in agricultural products in and around Karachi. 13th March 2009 Salt surge puts crops in peril - The National KHAJURA, BANGLADESH // In this obscure village perched on the rugged coastline along the Bay of Bengal, climate change exudes a taste – the taste of salt. As recently as five years ago, water from the village well tasted sweet to Mohammed Jehangir. But now a glassful, flecked with tiny white crystals, tastes of brine. Like other paddy farmers in this southern village, Mr Jehangir is baffled by the change. But international scientists are not surprised as global warming causes sea levels to rise. 11th March 2009 Wheat Gains as Drought Persists in U.S. Southern Great Plains - Bloomberg March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Wheat rose for the second time in three sessions on signs that a prolonged drought in the southern Great Plains is damaging winter crops in the U.S., the world's largest exporter of the grain. 11th March 2009 Have we reached peak water? - Canada.com We all know about peak oil, but peak water? Water expert Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute poses the possibility that, despite the vast amounts of water on "Planet Ocean," we may be running out of sustainably managed water. 11th March 2009 Cities in U.S. Southwest face thirsty times The fast-growing U.S. Southwest has a problem: too many people, not enough water. But then, what do you expect when you build cities like Las Vegas in the middle of a desert? My colleagues Tim Gaynor and Steve Gorman have done a story on this, looking at the water woes of Los Angeles and Las Vegas. You can see their report here and other stories from our water package here. Tim joined the “water warriors” of Las Vegas, city investigators who enforce restrictions on usage; Steve looked at the dire situation in Los Angeles, America's second largest city. 11th March 2009 China to plough extra 20% into agricultural production on fear that climate change will spark food crisis - Guardian China will increase spending on agricultural production by 20% this year amid warnings that climate change could spark a future food crisis . Prime minister Wen Jiabao's announcement of an extra 121 billion yuan (£13bn) to boost farm yields and raise rural incomes was a central part of his annual budget speech at the Great Hall of the People. 8th March 2009 Global fisheries must brace themselves for climate change - UN News Centre The fishing industry and government authorities must plan ahead to deal with the impact of climate change on fisheries worldwide, according to a new United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report. Responsible practices must be put into place more widely and management plans should include strategies for dealing with global warming, according to the FAO publication, entitled “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture” (SOFIA). Communities that rely heavily on fishing for their income will face serious challenges if fewer fish are available, with developing countries earning almost $25 billion annually in fish exports. The report estimated that more than 500 million people worldwide depend on the fishing sector. 3rd March 2009 The criminalization of seed banking: hidden inside Monsanto "food safety" bills - OpEdNews The We are facing a catastrophe to the environment, to farming, to food, to health, if the bogus "food safety bills" currently in Congress go through.  International corporations are intentionally destroying small farmers around the world and aggressively pursuing the take over of food worldwide with what will be devastating impact on the environment and climate change .   2nd March 2009 Texas is bone-dry; drought covers 97 percent of state - CBS 42 Austin Drought conditions in Texas are keeping farmers from planting crops, forcing cattle producers to cull their herds and drying up lakes across the state. 2nd March 2009 China wheat harvest withers in drought - International Herald Tribune The latest drought is crippling not only the country's best wheat farmland but also the wells that provide clean water to industry and to millions of people. 25th February 2009 Parched Pampas - BBC News A deflated bag of bones, the carcass of a bull, lies dried out on the banks of a river, baked by the sun. Normally green, the prime pastureland around lies silent and dry. 23rd February 2009 US Cash Grain Outlook: Export Basis Mkt Undergoing Sea-Change - INO News CENTRAL CITY, Neb. (Dow Jones)--The tide has apparently turned in the U.S. grain export market, with export basis trends for most commodities showing a sharp shift recently. Bids offered for spot shipments of interior wheat to various ports in the Gulf/Pacific Northwest jumped as much as 20 cents a bushel Friday alone, after it was revealed that China had made an unusual purchase of U.S. wheat, totaling nearly 11 million bushels. 23rd February 2009 SYRIA: Drought blamed for food scarcity - AlertNet Source: IRIN Two years of drought has left many farmers and herders without an income and has severely limited cereal production in Syria, pushing up local food prices and putting pressure on basic food supplies, according to UN and Syrian government officials. 23rd February 2009 California farms lose main water source to drought - Reuters LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California's main source of irrigation water is expected to go dry this year for most of its growers due to drought, idling at least 60,000 workers and up to 1 million acres of farmland, federal officials and experts said on Friday. 21st February 2009 Brazil climate change threatens top coffee crop - The State BRASILIA, Brazil -- The future for Brazil's mighty farm sector could be grim, with hotter temperatures pushing crops past its borders, uphill into the Andes and toward the tip of South America. So Brazilian scientists and agronomists are rushing to deter the effects of climate change on the world's biggest coffee producer and second-ranking soybean grower, a country crucial to the international food supply. 20th February 2009 DEVELOPMENT: U.N. Seeks a Green Revolution in Food - IPS UNITED NATIONS, Feb 18 (IPS) - The food crisis that spilled over from last year could take a turn for the worse in the next decade if there are no explicit answers to a rash of growing new problems, including declining agricultural production, a faltering distribution network and a deteriorating environment worldwide. See also: ENVIRONMENT: Food Crisis Under the Spotlight 20th February 2009 Andean glaciers 'could disappear': World Bank - AFP Andean glaciers and the region's permanently snow-covered peaks could disappear in 20 years if no measures are taken to tackle climate change, the World Bank warned Tuesday. A World Bank-published report said rising temperatures due to global warming could also have a dramatic impact on water management in the Andean region, with serious knock-on effects for agriculture and energy generation. 18th February 2009 Los Angeles nears water rationing - Reuters LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - With a recent flurry of winter storms doing little to dampen California's latest drought, the nation's biggest public utility voted on Tuesday to impose water rationing in Los Angeles for the first time in nearly two decades. 18th February 2009 U.N. says food production may fall 25 percent by 2050 - Reuters NAIROBI (Reuters) - Up to a quarter of global food production could be lost by 2050 due to the combined impact of climate change, land degradation and loss, water scarcity and species infestation, the United Nations said on Tuesday. 18th February 2009 Worst Argentine Drought Since '61 Cuts Soybean Crop: Week Ahead - Bloomberg Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Argentina's soybean farmers are braced for another week of scorching temperatures that may extend crop losses from the country's worst drought since 1961. 18th February 2009 Days of dust: the impact of global drought Water, the single most vital element for life on earth, is dwindling. From China to California, Australia and Kenya, global drought is having a huge effect 18th February 2009 Philippines' tuna production down - RedOrbit Global climate change and world oil market trends are hurting tuna fishermen in the Philippines, experts say. In General Santos City, which is considered the country's "Tuna Capital," fishermen say their catches are decreasing because of global warming and oil price disturbances, Xinhua, China's state-run news agency, reported Friday. Last year, the local tuna industry saw a slide of 22 percent in its production. 15th February 2009 Food & agriculture - Feb 13 Our culture of wasting food will one day leave us hungry Catastrophic Fall in 2009 Global Food Production The Geopolitics of Food Scarcity 15th February 2009 African fisheries hit hardest by climate change - New Scientist The world's poor are increasingly relying on fish, but a combination of climate change and unsustainable fishing practices could wipe out this vital protein source 15th February 2009 DEVELOPMENT: Now for a Water Bankruptcy - IPS BRUSSELS, Feb 13 (IPS) - Rarely a week goes by without a problem of water scarcity hitting the headlines. The acute droughts in Kenya, Argentina and the U.S. state of California are among the latest phenomena to illustrate that the global environment has been dangerously degraded. And participants in the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, heard that the planet could be destined towards "water bankruptcy". 15th February 2009 USDA: South American drought trims world soybean, corn production - Agriculture Online It's been awfully dry in South American soybean and corn country. USDA on Tuesday confirmed the drought down south has taken a toll on the region's crops and, in turn, soybean and corn supplies in the world market. 11th February 2009 Drought threatens Chinese wheat crop - Guardian Unlimited Low rainfall in the north has put nearly half of the country's harvest at risk. 11th February 2009 California farms, vineyards in peril from warming, U.S. energy secretary warns - LA Times 'We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California,' Steven Chu says. He sees education as a means to combat threat. See Also: Obama's energy secretary outlines dire climate change scenario - Guardian 5th February 2009 Food reform, meet climate change - Grist Magazine The food and agriculture industries, aided and abetted by governments worldwide (not to mention by consumers), have succeeded in offloading just about all external costs involved with feeding us. Environmental issues, public health issues, natural resource utilization issues, even most economic issues related to food have all been socialized to the extent that the industry is almost totally isolated from the societal consequences of its actions. Until now, few have complained, as this system has led to ever lower food prices in the developed world and thriving export markets in the developing world. But the costs, which for 60 years or so seemed to have been pushed back beyond the horizon, are beginning to loom. 5th February 2009 China Says ‘Rarely Seen' Drought Hurts Winter Wheat - Bloomberg Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) -- China, the world's largest grain grower, said a three-month drought has hurt nearly 46 percent of the winter wheat crop in its major growing provinces and may slow the planting of other crops in spring. 5th February 2009 India's wheat yield stagnant due to global warming: minister - Fresh News India’s wheat production has stagnated in the last 10-15 years and scientists have told the government this is due to climate change, Minister of State for Power Jairam Ramesh said here Wednesday. “The scientists have told us that the mean and maximum temperatures in north India have gone up by 1-1.5 degrees Celsius in February, which is the crucial month for deciding how good the wheat yield will be,” Ramesh said. 5th February 2009 British author draws on disaster of human overconsumption during I-Week lecture - The Gateway Online George Monbiot risked his life many times when traveling the world. During his journeys, he has been shot at, beaten by military police, and was once pronounced clinically dead. But for Wednesday’s International Week keynote speaker, the threats to the global food supply far outstrip the dangers he has faced. Speaking to the Myer Horowitz audience via video conference, the London-based author and environmental activist said that the way normal Westerners live their lives will kill people in unimaginable proportions. 5th February 2009 Drought relief effort under way - China Daily Severe drought in northern China has affected about 9.67 million hectares of crops, 2.7 million hectares more than the same period last winter, according to the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters. 3rd February 2009 Drought warning as the tropics expand - New Scientist Changes in the upper atmosphere link the greenhouse effect to the lack of rainfall on the US Pacific coast 3rd February 2009 Water 'crisis'? - BBC News Will more people and climate change drink us all dry? 3rd February 2009 High CO2 levels can hurt soybean plants - UPI CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Feb. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. biologists have discovered high atmospheric carbon dioxide levels negatively affect a soybean plant's defenses against leaf-eating insects. 3rd February 2009 Dutch Sea Kale Grown in Salty Soil Offers Peek at Food Future - Bloomberg Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- At Jef Schuur's restaurant on the Dutch resort island of Texel , guests dig in with gusto to an unusual vegetable grown in the salty soil next to the North Sea. 5th December 2008 Climate change hits Pacific region food security: FAO - Reuters MILAN (Reuters) - Ocean warming, frequent tropical cyclones, floods and droughts are likely to have a devastating impact on food security in Pacific island countries, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization said on Tuesday. 3rd December 2008 ETHIOPIA: Kahsay Beyen: "This is the worst drought I have seen in my life" - AlertNet Kahsay Beyen, 63, a farmer in Afenjiwo village, Ruba Feleg peasant association in Atsbi Womberta woreda in the eastern zone of Tigray, lost all the crops he had planted in May. He spoke to IRIN on 23 November: "I had planted wheat, beans and linseed but, as you can see, I am not expecting any harvest because the drought has been severe. "In 2007, I harvested only three quintals [300kg] of the crops instead of the usual four; this year I am not expecting even one. 27th November 2008 Warm winter 'major threat' to crops - China Daily Prolonged periods of drought resulting from China's 23rd consecutive "warm winter" will pose a serious threat to the country's crop yields, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said in a report published Tuesday. 26th November 2008 Locusts poised to destroy Australia's crops - Independent Australia: After the worst drought in a century, farmers face threat of insect swarms up to four miles long and more than 500 feet wide 23rd November 2008 Newspapers neglect food impact on climate - Earth & Sky In recent years, scientists have estimated that agricultural activities – including livestock production and clearing land for farming – contribute 30 percent of the greenhouse gases now warming our planet. But a new study shows that you wouldn’t know it from reading the newspapers. Out of 4,582 climate change articles, we found that only 109 even mentioned food and agriculture contributions to climate change. That’s 2.4 percent. 7th November 2008 Drought land 'will be abandoned' - Guardian Unlimited Parts of the world may have to be abandoned because severe water shortages will leave them uninhabitable, the United Nations environment chief has warned. Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN Environment Programme, said water shortages caused by over-use of rivers and aquifers were already leading to serious problems, even in rich nations. With climate change expected to reduce rainfall in some places and cause droughts in others, some regions could become 'economic deserts', unviable for people or agriculture, he said. 4th November 2008 Grain News - Grainnet.com Plenty of media reports have been devoted to the subject of global climate change, but farmers and ranchers may still be wondering what the change means for how theýll grow the food supply in coming years. 2nd November 2008 Hunger hotspots of the future revealed - New Scientist A comprehensive new study combines climate models with population and economic predictions to warn where food security will be worst in Africa of 2030 30th October 2008 Heat stress rather than drought will hit yields in the future - FMI Breeding for drought tolerance or heat stress was under the spotlight at a Rothamsted Research/HGCA workshop. Mike Abram reports 29th October 2008 Soil health 'threatens farming' - BBC The health and fertility of soil in parts of England may threaten its capacity for food production in future, a new report warns. 24th October 2008 Water documentary flows with dread - Jam! Showbiz Wars fought around the world for oil may soon be replaced by those fought for water. 17th October 2008 Feeding billions - BBC News World wakes up to the global food challenge See also: Global cost - BBC News 16th October 2008 Global Warming – Impact Of Climate Change On Global Agriculture - CattleNetwork.com Our efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, urgent as they are, will have little effect over the next 50 years. Changes during this period have already been set in motion by past greenhouse gas emissions. 14th October 2008 Bleak warning that UK fish face extinction - Guardian Unlimited Severe overfishing biggest environmental threat facing Britain today, says Marine Conservation Society 14th October 2008 Dear Mr. Next President -- Food, Food, Food We must move into the post-oil era to improve the health of the American people and to mitigate climate change. See also: Cool Cuisine: Taking the Bite Out of Global Warming - Energy Bulletin 14th October 2008 Grim Outlook for World Food - Asia Sentinel Food scarcity and the challenges of climate change and bio energy 14th October 2008 Ethiopia: $265M needed for worsening drought - AP via Yahoo! News An Ethiopian minister says his country urgently needs US$265 million to feed 6.4 million people affected by drought. 14th October 2008 World Food Scarcity and the Challenges of Climate Change and Bio Energy - The Seoul Times The theme for this year's WFD is ‘World Food Scarcity : The Challenges Of Climate Change And Bio Energy' as there is a strong need to expand global awareness to reduce the effect of severe climate patterns on agriculture and the impact of bio fuels on food production. 13th October 2008 Food crises could swing future UK elections, says thinktank - Guardian Unlimited UK food system unable to cope with rapid changes in supply driven by factors such as climate change 7th October 2008 Global warming set change eating - The Australian A report to be released by the CSIRO today says changes in temperature, ocean currents, rainfall and extreme weather events could cost Australian fisheries tens of million of dollars. Hardest hit could be stocks of Tasmanian salmon, estimated to be worth $221million in 2005-06 and representing 30 per cent of the total national aquaculture production. The report says projected ocean warming of 2-3 degrees by 2070 could render salmon farming unviable, leaving open the possibility of salmon farmers having to shift their operations offshore to deeper, cooler waters. 6th October 2008 U.N. seeks $20 million for drought victims in Syria - Reuters GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations appealed on Friday for $20 million to help one million people in Syria cope with the country's worst drought in four decades. 4th October 2008 Oysters will fail the acid test - Goondiwindi Argus Australia: SYDNEY oyster lovers are in for an unpalatable surprise. A global conference in Monaco next week on the rising acidity of the world's oceans will hear research that shows a detrimental effect on local oyster species. 4th October 2008 Heat destroys crops, farmers' hopes - Perth Now RECORD temperatures across Victoria's north last weekend laid waste to the state's wheat crops, the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) says. 2nd October 2008 International trade in grain could be dramatically cut within 10-15 years: Dyer - The Truro Daily News BIBLE HILL - Food could be in short supply worldwide as one of the impacts of global warming, a renowned columnist told an agriculture crowd here Tuesday. 2nd October 2008 Cyprus grape harvest squeezed by drought - AFP via Yahoo! News In Cyprus, where the reservoirs are almost dry and the taps often cease to flow, another liquid may also become scarce. Parched by a chronic drought, the island's wine industry, among the oldest in the world, is under threat. 2nd October 2008 Will Cities Soon Be Able to Feed Themselves? - Alertnet A growing interest in urban farming is sprouting all kinds of new ideas -- including growing food in high-rises. See allso: A lack of food security is London's achilles heel - Guardian Unlimited 2nd October 2008 Meat must be rationed to four portions a week, says report on climate change - Guardian Unlimited Return to old-fashioned cooking habits urged by study looking at food impact on greenhouse gases 30th September 2008 DEVELOPMENT: Food Security Hostage to Climate Trends - IPS UNITED NATIONS, Sep 26 (IPS) - More than 50 African leaders meeting at the United Nations this week focused on strategies to overcome a myriad of interrelated problems -- food shortages, droughts, HIV/AIDS, an energy crisis, climate change and military conflicts -- on the troubled continent. 27th September 2008 Over 70pc of NSW now in drought - The West Australian Drought conditions have worsened in NSW, with more than 70 per cent of the state now officially drought-declared. Figures released by the NSW Department of Primary Industries on Saturday show just 10 See also: New South Wales Grain Crops May Fail Without Rainfall This Week - Bloomberg.com 20th September 2008 Planet is running out of clean water, new film warns - CNN.com One sixth of the world's population does not have access to clean drinking water. More than 2 million people, most of them children, die each year from water-borne diseases. 20th September 2008 A New Boom in Natural Gas Threatens Drinking Water - Alternet Water and chemicals injected at high pressure can extract more gas and may threaten drinking water in places like New York and Texas. 19th September 2008 Water shortage cripples Palestinian farming - Reuters BARDALA, West Bank (Reuters) - In the plains around the village of Bardala, the Israeli-Palestinian tug-of-war over land and water plays itself out in vivid colour -- largely brown Palestinian farms border green fields owned by Jewish settlers. 18th September 2008 JORDAN: Drought may claim thousands of olive trees - AlertNet Source: IRIN Persistent drought in the south could lead to the decimation of thousands of olive trees in the city of Karak, 120km south of Amman, according to environmentalists, who blame climate change. 17th September 2008 2008 Texas drought losses estimated at $1.4 billion - High Plains Journal Lack of rain and scorching temperatures hit Texas' agricultural crops and beef operations hard late spring and summer, leading to an estimated $1.4 billion in drought losses, Texas AgriLife Extension Service economists reported Sept. 8. 15th September 2008 Edge of oblivion - BBC News Actor Ted Danson says our seas are in a parlous state 15th September 2008 The great honey drought - The Independent In 26 years of beekeeping, Ged Marshall has never seen anything as bad as the 2008 honey harvest. A miserable summer that has confined his bees to their hives following a winter bedevilled by deadly viruses means that production this year will be barely a third of its usual level of around five tonnes of honey. The dearth of honey this summer is due to a number of issues linked to changing climate and trends in agriculture which belie the bucolic image of beekeepers in protective masks harvesting dripping honey combs from their village gardens. 14th September 2008 Louisiana: Hurricane Damages Crops and Fisheries - New York Times Hurricane Gustav caused an estimated $372 million in crop damage, dumping as many as 20 inches of rain, agriculture officials said. The storm also caused crawfish and catfish ponds to overflow, causing an estimated $46 million in damages to fisheries, according to estimates by the Louisiana State University AgCenter. Among hardest-hit crops were cotton, sweet potatoes, soybeans and sugar cane. More than 47 percent of the cotton crop is estimated to be destroyed, a $112 million loss in what was expected to be a $237 million crop. 11th September 2008 'Difficult harvest' - BBC News How wet weather has ruined one farmer's crops 11th September 2008 Drought in Australia Food Bowl Worsens - Planet Ark CANBERRA - Drought in Australia's main food growing region of the Murray-Darling river system has worsened, with water inflows over the past two years at an all-time low, the government's top water official said on Tuesday. See also: In pictures: The drought in Benalla - BBC News 3rd September 2008 Experts: 'Global Warming Heat Stress' Threatening Nations - FOXNews Climate change is likely to first hurt developing countries which could become almost too hot to successfully grow essential crops, international experts told a conference Wednesday. 3rd September 2008 'Big Dry' turns farms into deserts - BBC There are puddles of water but they are brown-tinged and unwelcoming. The cows will not drink it. So high is the salt content that it stings and burns their mouths. "This area is on the very brink of environmental collapse". 31st August 2008 Food riots as Indian floods destroy 250000 homes - Swissinfo PATNA, India (Reuters) - Food riots erupted on Wednesday in eastern India, where more than two million people have been forced from their homes and about 250,000 houses destroyed in what officials say are the worst floods in 50 years. Some experts blame the floods on heavier monsoon rains caused by global warming, while others say authorities have failed to take enough preventive measures to improve infrastructure. 28th August 2008 Grande Prairie struggles with drought disaster - CBC Edmonton The worst drought in decades has prompted local officials in northwest Alberta to declare an agricultural disaster as hot weather and a lack of rain have left dry, cracked fields and shriveled crops. 16th August 2008 It's not you, it's the sea: heat hurts shellfish relationships - Myall Coast Nota OYSTERS, lobsters, mussels, sea urchins and abalone could be wiped off the menu by global warming, an Australian scientist warned yesterday. Jane Williamson, a Macquarie University marine ecologist, made the prediction after discovering that climate change is likely to take a dramatic toll on the ability of sperm from many marine creatures to swim to and fertilise eggs shed in the water. Even if sperm can find and fertilise the eggs, the probability of their surviving long enough to grow into larvae is likely to plunge. 15th August 2008 Fertliser crisis sparks civil unrest in developing countries with 500% price hikes - Guardian Unlimited A global fertiliser crisis caused by high oil prices and the US rush to biofuel crops is reducing the harvests of the world's poorest farmers and could lead to millions more people going hungry, according to the UN and global food analysts 13th August 2008 Brazilian agriculture faces huge losses - France24 Global warming will cause heavy financial losses to Brazil's agricultural sector over the next decade, a government study said Monday. The losses will grow to five billion dollars by 2020 and 14 billion by 2070, according to the joint study by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Center and the University of Campinas. 12th August 2008 Calorie clever - BBC News How using the true costs of food could help climate change 11th August 2008 Heavy rains batter North Korea, damage crops - AP via Yahoo! News Heavy rains that battered North Korea in recent weeks have heavily damaged crops, state media said Monday, dealing a further blow to the impoverished country as it struggles to avert a food crisis. 5th August 2008 Eaten up - Guardian Unlimited Ed Pilkington talks to the soothsayer of agro-economics, Raj Patel, about what will happen when the food finally runs out 30th July 2008 Australia food-bowl drought worsens, rains spare wheat - Khaleej Times CANBERRA - The prolonged drought in Australia's Murray-Darling river system is worsening and the country's main food bowl may forever be changed by accelerating climate warming, government officials said on Thursday. 10th July 2008 Drought threatens Iraq's crops and water supply - AP via Yahoo! News It's been a year of drought and sand storms across Iraq - a dry spell that has devastated the country's crucial wheat crop and created new worries about the safety of drinking water. 10th July 2008 South Australian Crops Need `Significant Rainfall,' Agency Says - Bloomberg.com July 8 (Bloomberg) -- Grain crops in South Australia state, the nation's second-largest wheat grower last harvest, need significant rainfall to maintain growth after dry weather in June, a government agency said. 8th July 2008 Ruthless drought in West Timor puts children in crisis - CNN.com Maria's labored breath echoes within the walls of her family's mud hut. Her tiny bony hands open and close in slow claw-like motions. 8th July 2008 Now, global warming may spoil India's wheat party - Hindu Amid record wheat output estimate, here comes the dampener the country's wheat production may fall by about half a ton per hectare in 10 years if suitable steps are not taken to tackle climate change, says a study. According to a current estimate, the average wheat production in the country stands at 2.6-2.7 ton per hectare. Agronomic impact of climate change is key to mitigate the grave risk of wheat production falling by 0.45 ton per hectare in case the winter temperature rises by a minimum of 0.5 degree celsius, according to the 'Wheat Report 2008: Future Tense', brought out jointly by Assocham and AgriWatch. 6th July 2008 Climate Change May Cut S. Africa Corn Crop Sharply - Planet Ark SAPPORO, Japan - Climate change could cut South Africa's maize crop by 20 percent within 15 to 20 years as the west of the country dries out while the east is afflicted with increasingly severe storms, its environment minister said on Sunday. 6th July 2008 AP Interview: Food and global warming are interconnected - International Herald Tribune AP Interview: The global food crisis will only worsen because of climate change, the U.N. climate chief said Friday, urging leaders of the world's richest countries meeting in Japan next week to set goals to reduce carbon emissions within the next dozen years. 5th July 2008 The trend is for vertical farming, but more kitchen gardens would produce better food - Guardian Graham Harvey: Vertical farms may be the hot story, but a network of good old-fashioned kitchen gardens would produce better food 30th June 2008 Typhoon destroys crops worth more than half a billion pesos - GMA News MANILA, Philippines - Tropical storm "Frank" has damaged more than half a billion pesos worth of crops, affecting expansion in agriculture, which comprise a fifth of the Philippine economy. 23rd June 2008 Wheat Rises as Australian Drought May Hurt Newly Planted Crop - Bloomberg.com Australia may produce 8.8 percent less grain than estimated after the driest May on record, the country's Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, or Abare, said in an e- mail. Production in the year starting Oct. 1 may fall to 23.7 million metric tons, the agency said, down from a March estimate of 26 million tons. 18th June 2008 Corn Jumps to Record as Floods in Midwest Threaten U.S. Crops - Bloomberg.com Corn climbed to a record near $8 a bushel as floods damaged crops in the U.S., the largest producer and exporter, threatening global food supplies. 17th June 2008 Drought pushes Iran to import wheat - Payvand Iran News Iran has announced it will have to import many grains including wheat this year to combat a drought that has plagued the country. 13th June 2008 US oyster industry threatened by bacterium - Guardian Unlimited US oyster industry threatened by bacteriumguardian.co.uk, UK. "Is that a connection to global warming? That's the consensus. " 13th June 2008 Corn prices surge to record high - BBC Corn prices have hit new highs after the US Department of Agriculture forecast that output would fall because of poor weather. 12th June 2008 Hungry monkeys plunder Indonesian crops - CNN.com JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Bands of starving monkeys have destroyed crops around Indonesia's famous Borobudur Buddhist temple in search of food their habitat can no longer supply. 12th June 2008 Climate change blamed as mango harvest goes sour in India - FreshPlaza The news will send a shiver through fruit aficionados the world over: India's mangoes, revered for millennia for their succulence, are becoming fewer and less sweet as changes in weather patterns affect harvests. Official estimates suggest that three million tonnes of mangoes have been wiped out by a severe winter in India so far this year and the unseasonable deluges that have swept key growing regions in recent days may weigh further on production. 11th June 2008 Biotech giants demand a high price for saving the planet - The Independent Giant biotech companies are privatising the world's protection against climate change by filing hundreds of monopoly patents on genes that help crops resist it, a new investigation has concluded. 7th June 2008 US sits pretty in global food trade network - Scripps News "When the professional fear mongers try to scare you with America's "oil addiction," remember this: if the world's got us over a barrel on energy, then we've got the world over a bread basket. Moreover, while global climate change will progressively diminish OPEC's importance as we're forced to improve transportation technologies, it'll only strengthen NAFTA's role as the world's preeminent food exporter." [Some interesting statistics undermined by the convenient omission of America's reliance on fossiil fertilisers] 7th June 2008 Urban anger - BBC News How the hungry have become a vocal force See map showing impact of food price rises on trade balances 6th June 2008 Coasts under threat, fisheries vulnerable-UN study - Planet Ark ROME - High food prices may add pressure for more fishing along coasts where the environment faces threats from pollution and climate change, a UN University report said on Wednesday. 6th June 2008 Food talks fail to agree on biofuels - Guardian Unlimited World leaders leave unadopted a plan to ensure crops are not produced at expense of world's hungry 6th June 2008 Lidl stores ration sales of rice - BBC News Supermarket chain Lidl has rationed rice sales in all its UK stores amid worldwide shortages of the food. 3rd June 2008 Unnatural roots of the food crisis - BBC News As representatives of the world's governments gather to address shortages in major foodstuffs and rising prices, Gonzalo Oviedo counsels them to focus on ecosystems. The modern business-dominated agricultural industry, he argues, promotes the degradation of nature - and that, in turn, means less and worse food. See also: Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World's Food System - AlterNet 3rd June 2008 Farmers face climate challenge in quest for more food - guardian.co.uk If farmers think they have a tough time producing enough rice, wheat and other grain crops, global warming is going to present a whole new world of challenges in the race to produce more food, scientists say. 4th May 2008 UN chiefs hold food crisis summit - BBC News UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is due to announce details of new measures to tackle the global food crisis. "In the long term we need to address the challenges caused by climate change," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon 29th April 2008 Corn-fuel bill will worsen hunger, critics say - CNews Canada: Food will be turned into fuel and people will go hungry if Parliament passes a new bill demanding greater use of corn-fuels like ethanol, critics say. 29th April 2008 Focus: Hunger. Strikes. Riots. The food crisis bites - Guardian Unlimited In less than a year, the price of wheat has risen 130 per cent, soya by 87 per cent and rice by 74 per cent. According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, there are only eight to 12 weeks of cereal stocks in the world, while grain supplies are at their lowest since the 1980s. Not surprisingly, these swiftly rising prices have unleashed serious political unrest in many places. In Dhaka yesterday 10,000 Bangladeshi textile workers clashed with police. Dozens were injured, including 20 policemen, in a protest triggered by food costs that was eventually quelled by baton charges and teargas. In Haiti, demonstrators recently tried to storm the presidential palace after prices of staple foods leaped 50 per cent. In Egypt, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Mozambique, Senegal and Cameroon there have been demonstrations, sometimes involving fatalities, as starving, desperate people have taken to the streets. And in Vietnam the new crime of rice rustling - in which crops are stripped at night from fields by raiders - has led to the banning of all harvesting machines from roads after sunset and to farmers, armed with shotguns, camping around their fields 24 hours a day. 13th April 2008 Food price rises threaten global security - UN - Guardian Rising food prices could spark worldwide unrest and threaten political stability, the UN's top humanitarian official warned yesterday after two days of rioting in Egypt over the doubling of prices of basic foods in a year and protests in other parts of the world. See also: Hungry mob attacks Haiti palace - BBC 9th April 2008 World food balance tips toward crisis - Seattle Post Intelligencer The subsidized conversion of crops into fuel was supposed to promote energy independence and help limit global warming. But this promise was, as Time magazine bluntly put it, a "scam." 9th April 2008 Scientist warns climate change will impact beer production - CNews WELLINGTON, New Zealand - The price of beer is likely to rise in coming decades because climate change will hamper the production of a key grain needed for the brew - especially in Australia, a scientist warned Tuesday. 9th April 2008 Riots fear after rice price hits a high - Guardian Unlimited Shortages of the staple crop of half the world's people could bring unrest across Asia and Africa 6th April 2008 Crop switch worsens global food price crisis - Guardian Unlimited UN secretary general raises doubt over policy encouraging farmers to produce biofuels amid signs of worst food crisis in a generation 5th April 2008 Go for an 'Edible Estate': The Case Against Lawns - AlterNet Why do we dedicate so much property to something that requires precious resources, endless hours and contaminates our air and water? 5th April 2008 Wheat future surge on worries that bad weather will damage crops - Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune NEW YORK - Wheat prices shot up Friday as investors bet that a mix of wet and dry weather in wheat-growing U.S. states will damage crops and tighten supplies of the grain used to make bread, pasta and other foods. 5th April 2008 Ted Turner Says Global Warming Will Increase Cannibalism - Ecorazzi In an interview Tuesday for Charlie Rose’s PBS show, the CNN founder said that one of the consequences of Global Warming will be mass cannibalism. From the interview, “Not doing it will be catastrophic. We’ll be eight degrees hotter in ten, not ten but 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals. Civilization will have broken down. The few people left will be living in a failed state — like Somalia or Sudan — and living conditions will be intolerable. The droughts will be so bad there’ll be no more corn grown. Not doing it is suicide.” 4th April 2008 Hungry Crowds Spell Trouble For World Leaders - Planet Ark YAOUNDE - "Is it not said 'A hungry man is an angry man'?" commented Simon Nkwenti, head of a teachers' union in Cameroon, after riots that killed dozens of people in the central African country. 3rd April 2008 Thai farmers fall prey to rice rustlers as price of staple crop rockets - Guardian Unlimited Asian countries curb exports to avoid shortfalls as 'perfect storm' nearly doubles price in three months 31st March 2008 The new global menace: food inflation - The Globe and Mail Staple prices have doubled, fanning social, political unrest 30th March 2008 EXPERTS SOUND ALARM ON FUTURE AVAILABILITY OF RICE - The Manila Times LOS BAÑOS: It is the staple food of half of humanity but only a handful of countries have large rice surpluses, leaving even some of the biggest producers scrambling to grow enough to feed their own people. 29th March 2008 Rosie Boycott: Only a radical change of diet can halt looming food crises - Guardian Unlimited Rosie Boycott: Costs are high now, but rising oil prices will bring enormous problems for a world with appetites that it simply can't sustain 29th March 2008 NOAA: Ocean acidity threatening Pacific Ocean fisheries - Alaska Journal of Commerce KODIAK Ñ A federal fisheries scientist says a major threat to fisheries in the North Pacific Ocean in this century is coming from ocean acidity due to rising levels of carbon dioxide in the ocean. 29th March 2008 Major food source threatened by climate change - New Scientist Rice yields will be hit hard by predicted changes in climate, with the potential to cause widespread food shortages 24th March 2008 Severe drought threatens wheat and rapeseed production - China Daily Wheat and rapeseed production in north China are under threat from severe drought. 23rd March 2008 How food miles myth hurts the planet - Guardian Unlimited Science environment: Robin McKie and Caroline Davies report on how the concept of food miles became oversimplified [Let's re-simplify it then... Eating Local Strengthens Commmunity] 23rd March 2008 Melting glaciers will trigger food shortages - New Scientist The glaciers that feed Asia's mightiest rivers are disappearing, and with them irrigation water that feeds millions 21st March 2008 Uganda: 1.5 Million People Face Starvation Due to Foods, Drought - AllAfrica.com Some 1.5 million people are in need of food aid in parts of the country hit by last year's floods and now experiencing drought since January. 14th March 2008 Australia's food bowl lies empty - BBC After America, Australia is normally the second largest exporter of grain, and in a good year it would hope to harvest about 25 million tonnes. But the country remains in the grip of the worst drought in a century, which is why the 2006 crop yielded only 9.8m tonnes. Last year saw one of the best starts to a growing season for years, but dry weather in recent weeks has forced the Australian government to slash its crop forecasts by 30%. 14th March 2008 Early spring thaw could affect your groceries - MSNBC NASA scientists have recorded an earlier regional thawing trend across northern high latitudes, advancing almost one day a year, since 1988. This trend, a likely result of global warming, leads to a longer growing season and supplies more time to harvest, which on the surface can be seen as positive. Some new studies, though, warn that this situation could actually increase the effects of climate change in the long term. Why? Early thaw has the potential to alter the cycle of atmospheric carbon dioxide intake and release. A longer growing season promotes more carbon uptake, which is then stored in seasonally frozen and permafrost soils. But when permafrost soils thaw and dry out, higher temperatures in the fall promote release of the stored carbon back into the atmosphere. This process is projected to increase over time at an accelerated rate, sending carbon dioxide levels soaring and further warming the planet. 13th March 2008 World warned on high food costs - BBC The UN secretary general tells the BBC he is "deeply concerned" about the sharp rise in global food prices. See also: Grain traders buzz as prices soar - BBC News Grain prices are pushed higher by a combination of soaring global demand from new consumers and failed crops restricting their supply. 12th March 2008 Wheat-a-fix? - BBC News Global stocks of wheat are plummeting and people are starting to worry about the price of staples like bread. But can you beat the commodity by growing it in your own back garden? 11th March 2008 Warnings over future food crisis - BBC News A world food crisis can be expected in the coming decades as our demand for food outstrips our ability to produce it, a UK government adviser has warned. Climate change is expected to worsen the food shortage 7th March 2008 Wheat Rises as Investors Bet Crops Will Face Adverse Weather - Bloomberg.com March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Wheat surged the most allowed by the Chicago Board of Trade on speculation adverse weather will hurt crops for the third straight year. 4th March 2008 Abnormally dry and mild winter hampers growth of crops in food-starved NKorea - CNews SEOUL, South Korea - State media reported today North Korea has experienced an abnormally mild and dry winter that has hampered the growth of some crops, threatening to exacerbate the impoverished country's chronic food shortages. 4th March 2008 Climate change's most deadly threat: drought - The Christian Science Monitor Anthropologist Brian Fagan uses Earth's distant past to predict the crises that may lie in its future. 4th March 2008 Will global warming increase plant frost damage? Widespread damage to plants from a sudden freeze that occurred across the Eastern United States from 5 April to 9 April 2007 was made worse because it had been preceded by two weeks of unusual warmth, according to an analysis published in the March 2008 issue of BioScience. 4th March 2008 UN warns climate change in Mideast could lead to food, water shortages - CNews CAIRO, Egypt - Climate change is likely to reduce agricultural production and exacerbate water shortages in the Middle East, threatening the region's poor, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization warned Monday. 4th March 2008 In Highland Peru, a Culture Faces Blight - NPR Nothing is more important than the potato in the highland villages of Peru. Thousands of varieties abound here, cultivated over time as insurance against unpredictable conditions. But Peru's potato culture confronts its biggest threat yet: Global warming has opened the door to the disease that caused the Irish potato famine. 4th March 2008 The World's Growing Food-Price Crisis - TIME Soaring prices of staples — which have risen about 75% since 2005, driven by growing demand, rising oil prices and the effects of global warming — have sparked riots in several countries, as people reel from sticker shock and governments scramble to feed their people. 28th February 2008 Fresh records for price of wheat- BBC News Wheat prices have hit record levels as supplies dwindle, raising concerns about growing food inflation. Reports of a drought in Northern China, w