Reports show that traditional breeding techniques are years ahead of GM technologies in developing crops to withstand drought and poor soils, writes Lawrence Woodward. Yet GM advocates are sticking rigidly to their script even as the evidence mounds against them ...
… Resisting drought: conventional plant breeding … technologies in developing crops to withstand drought and poor soils, writes Lawrence … GM variety. In another programme - The Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa project - …
São Paulo, South America's biggest city, is suffering its worst drought in over a century, writes Jan Rocha, with rivers and reservoirs running dry. But the state's politicians are seeking re-election. And for them, it's as if nothing is happening - never mind that water and power cuts affecting millions are looking inevitable.
… Drought hits São Paulo - what drought? Jan Rocha | 29th August 2014 News … biggest city, is suffering its worst drought in over a century, writes Jan Rocha, … 20 million, is now in the grip of its worst drought in more than a century - a water …
The world is facing the imminent threat of severe climate disruption from the warming Arctic, write Robert & Jack Hunziker, leading to a global crisis. But the response of the powerful is only to increase fossil fuel exploitation - and damn the consequences.
… entire Northern Hemisphere, causing severe droughts, freezing cold spells, and widespread … food availability, increasing food prices, drought, and poor access to water, as well as … for example, Syria suffered from devastating droughts in the decade leading up to its …
Scientists have found that the world's second greatest rainforest, the Congo, is losing its green, writes Tim Radford. As temperatures rise and rainfall reduces, the forest canopy is taking on a browner hue, and this could be an early signal of worse damage to come.
… clearing of the rainforest, along with drought, has begun to create "tinderbox" … deaths each year to measure the impact of drought on fire intensity. "Drought causes more intense and widespread …
Governments worldwide have been warned: draw up plans to help populations who are being forced to move because of climate change, or face a future of growing conflict and insecurity, writes Paul Brown.
… storms and more gradual disasters such as droughts will cause more unplanned mass … Its already happening: cyclones, floods and drought The report studied the national … hazards, including cyclones, floods and drought. Dry Corridor A recent meeting held in …
The Amazon forest both depends on, and sustains, vast 'flying rivers' that carry humid air and clouds deep into the continental interior, writes Jan Rocha. But scientists fear the flying rivers are failing due to deforestation, fire and climate change.
… Drought bites as the Amazon's 'flying rivers' … fire and climate change. The unprecedented drought now affecting São Paulo, South … present rate, events like the unprecedented drought of 2010 will occur more often. The …
Pakistan is already experiencing a pattern of devastating flood and drought brought on by climate change and deforestation, say the country's top climate scientists. Yet the government has failed to either tackle the problems, or prepare for future disasters.
… Pakistan - no response to flood, drought, deforestation crisis Saleem Shaikh | … a pattern of devastating flood and drought brought on by climate change and … 2013, the farming sector was hit by a serious drought. Qamar uz Zaman, a former director …
Forest fires are invariably portrayed as fiercely destructive environmental calamities. But for the native forests of the American West, large fires are essential to ecological renewal. Contrary to the mantras of logging companies and forest service officials, we suppress them at our peril.
… winter California suffered its most severe drought in decades, with record-low rainfall and meager mountain snowpack. Drought, high summer temperatures, and wind … of large fires, as these typically follow drought. So why aren't we, as wildlife and …
Australia's prime minister thinks climate change is 'crap' and has just abolished his country's carbon-pricing system. But scientists say that it's rising levels of CO2 that are leaving the south of the country parched and sweltering - and it's only going to get worse.
… Australia's drought - yes, it's climate change Tim Radford … experienced a pattern of heat waves and drought - punctuated by catastrophic flooding …
Ethiopia leads the way in preserving crop seeds by engaging farming communities in the effort, and making the exchange of seeds part of village life and culture, reports Claire Provost. But now it's all at risk from a G8 plan to open Africa to corporate agriculture.
… traditional, indigenous seeds in the face of drought and other threats. The UN Food and … former head of the seed bank, says recurrent droughts have put the country's agricultural … was head of the seed bank in the 1980s, when drought and acute food crises threatened the …
Data collected by the WMO shows there were almost five times as many weather- related disasters in the first decade of this century than in the 1970s, writes Chris Rose. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was the most expensive ever, costing $147 billion.
… are bearing the burden of repeated floods, droughts, temperature extremes and storms" , … 84% of economic losses" , the atlas said. "Droughts caused 35% of deaths, mainly due to the severe African droughts of 1975, 1983 and 1984." Losses …
The year 2014 is on track to be one of the hottest, if not the hottest, on record, according to preliminary estimates by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Their latest report, issued today at the UN climate talks in Lima, shows exceptional heat and flooding in many parts of the world.
… and floods in many countries and extreme drought in others. WMO's Provisional Statement … precipitation total was a record 519.9 mm. Drought Precipitation in the southern part of … half of the summer average, causing severe drought. Parts of Central America suffered …
With rising population and food demand far outstripping supply, the Sahel is vulnerable to a new humanitarian crisis, writes Alex Kirby. Rainfall is expected to increase with climate change, but higher temperatures will overwhelm the benefits.
… from the African savanna, is no stranger to drought and famine. Now scientists in Sweden … plant strains can withstand the effects of drought better than traditional cultivars, … was the lack of water. "I think that if a drought occurs with an impact that matches or …
The Earth is on an unavoidable path towards a 1.5°C temperature rise by mid-century, says a new World Bank report. And as Alex Kirby reports, it could reach 4°C by 2100 unless immediate action is taken - with dire impacts on the planet's poorest people.
… 2014 News Climate Change Farming kenya-drought-cut.jpg The Earth is on an unavoidable … increasing in intensity in some places, and drought-prone regions like the Mediterranean … in Central Asia. In the Balkans, a higher drought risk will affect harvests, urban …
The growing popularity of olive oil has driven more intensive systems of olive tree cultivation, writes Kieran Cooke. But they are vulnerable to the kind of extreme weather that has brought pests and disease to olive crops across southern Europe, damaging crops and pushing up prices.
… their flowering period. Then a prolonged drought hit many regions - including the … Basin region, with the possibility of more droughts and increasing desertification. Such … from hundreds of miles away. When there's a drought - or when disease or pests strike - …
Migration is an essential component of strategies to adapt to changing climates, writes Alex Randall. Greens should welcome migrants and support their efforts to build climate resilience in their home communities.
… Migration as climate adaptation Water stress, drought and desertification are affecting … change. It means fewer people affected by the drought or water stress. There are fewer … floods. People suffer from famine during the droughts. If there is an absence of rain, …
GM crops may benefit agribusiness, writes Andrew Adam-Bradford. But they offer little to Africa or the millions of farming communities that feed the continent. Rather than impose corporate 'solutions', governments should invest in indigenous agro-ecological farming.
… to food supply is often attributed to drought, which in some regions has been … In the face of climate change-induced droughts, discussions jump straight to the … contributing factors, and crop failure from drought is rarely the only cause. A long term …
Despite record heat and drought Australia's emissions and coal exports are soaring, says a new report, and both are increasing as a matter of government policy. But a homegrown climate action movement is putting a spanner in the works - and just stopped its first coal train.
… first_rail_cut.jpg Despite record heat and drought Australia's emissions and coal exports … Australia has been hit by a series of severe droughts and record-breaking high … and parts of New South Wales are already drought-declared. Resistance is growing This …
The very least 'global warming' could do for us is to give us warmer winters, right? Wrong, writes Nick Breeze, who met climate scientist and meteorologist Jennifer Francis in his attempt to understand the complex interactions of jet stream, polar vortex, the melting Arctic, and the extreme snowfall that's hitting the northeast US right now.
… extremes have ranged from California's record drought, to the early snows now under way in … supply reservoirs, and for agriculture ... "Drought and agriculture is a big problem. … one. They're already seeing changes in drought and agricultural problems and dealing …
Sea–level rises, changes to the severity of monsoon seasons and rainfall, flooding, droughts and heatwaves are all having an increasing impact on human health, writes Geordon Shannon.
… of monsoon seasons and rainfall, flooding, droughts and heatwaves are all having an … of these kinds of events. And flooding, droughts, heatwaves, and the spread of disease …
As the forest fires burn on in the western US, writes Kieran Cooke, a new report predicts that climate-led temperature rise will lead to millions more acres across the world being burned to the ground, especially in southern Europe and Australia.
… southern Europe and in Australia. The ongoing drought across much of the western US has had …
The greatest volcanic eruption in human history changed the 19th century as much as Napoleon, if not more, writes Gillen D'Arcy Wood. Yet how many of us know of Tambora, the climate havoc it unleashed, or the global cholera pandemic it spawned?
… disasters ever to befall mankind. The floods, droughts, starvation, and disease in the three … weather system, for the following two years. Drought brought on by the eruption crippled … Conversation . Read the original article . Drought brought on by the eruption crippled …
How, and why, does the US Right and its evangelical 'Christian' wing campaign for mal-education, ignorance, corporate dominance, and the profligate consumption of fossil fuels? J P Sottile explores an alien planet ...
… on the heels of President Obama's visit to drought-stricken California to deliver both … Resisting change - 'God's chosen' Could droughts, heatwaves, superstorms and, for good …
A failure to act to reduce the impacts of climate change could cost Europe almost €200 billion and 200,000 lives a year, writes Tim Radford. These 'conservative estimates' are published in a new European Commission study.
… 2080, while the number of people affected by droughts could increase sevenfold, and coastal … river floods, coasts, tourism, energy, droughts, forest fires, transport …