the mysterious mass die-off of honey bees that pollinate $30 billion worth of crops in the US has so decimated America’s apis mellifera population that one bad winter could leave fields fallow.
Now, a new study has pinpointed some of the probable causes of bee
deaths and the rather scary results show that averting beemageddon will
be much more difficult than previously thought.
Based on the current growth rate, the present U.S. population of more
than 270 million is projected to double to 540 million within the next
70 years. In addition, the world population -- about 6 billion -- is
projected to double within just 50 years (again, based on current rates
of growth). The growing imbalance between the increasing world
population and the finite amount of Earth's resources that support human
life is reason for grave concern.
Consider that according the World Health Organization, more than 3
billion people are currently considered malnourished. This represents
the largest number and proportion of malnourished humans ever in
history! Deaths from malnutrition and other diseases have significantly
increased, especially during the past decade, and there is no
indication that this trend will cease or reverse. What can we expect as
population numbers continue to climb?
In order to support increasing numbers of people, we will need to be
able to feed them. The production of adequate food depends on ample
supplies of fertile cropland, pure water, energy, and other biological
resources, like plants and pollinators. Growing numbers of humans,
though, force us to stretch these limited resources further and further.
The fact that grain production -- which supplies 80% to 90% of the
world food -- has been declining since 1983 should alert us to the
potential for future food supply problems and increasing malnutrition.
About 0.5 hectares (1.2 acres) of cropland per person is required to
provide a diverse diet similar to that desired by the average American
and European. At present, this amount of land is still available in the
United States for its present population. In contrast, worldwide, only
0.27 ha of cropland per person remains for food production. Since land
is a finite resource, available cropland per person will continue to
decline, both worldwide and in the United States, as the human
population increases. Urban sprawl, highways, and industries also
spread and cover more land. Finally, a substantial amount of fertile
cropland is lost to erosion by wind and water every year. Some 10
million hectares of cropland is being eroded and abandoned each year
throughout the world.
Rainfall, as well as water captured in rivers and lakes, is essential
for all plants, including crops. As agricultural production increases
to feed more humans, pressure on water supplies also increases. Because
communities, states, and countries must share water, competition for
water resources increases. In arid regions of the world, which supply
30% of the world's food, irrigation has declined during the past decade.
This has already had a negative impact on food production in these
regions. Even in some areas of the United States, sufficient water for
crops and people is becoming a serious problem. The fact that the great
Agualla aquifer of central United States is being depleted about 140%
faster than rainfall recharges it, suggests an impending serious water
scarcity for a large area of U.S. land.
In addition to land and water resources, energy is also vital to crop
production. Solar energy and human power, augmented with fossil energy,
make the cultivation of crops possible. Fossil energy is used to power
farm machinery and irrigation pumps as well as to produce fertilizers
and pesticides. Unfortunately, fossil energy is a finite and
non-renewable resource that is being rapidly depleted throughout the
world.
Lastly, humans and their assorted activities are reducing biodiversity
throughout the world. Pollination, essential for one-third of the
world's food supply and dependent on diverse species of pollinators, has
been declining; some U.S. crops already face serious problems due to
lack of sufficient pollination. The stability of other essential
biological resources for agriculture and forestry, such as microbes and
invertebrates, are also declining and being threatened due to human
activities. Finally, the use of more than 100,000 different chemicals
-- including pesticides -- worldwide reduces vital biodiversity even
further.
As increasing numbers of humans travel and trade more, more exotic
species of plants and animals invade the U.S. and other ecosystems
worldwide. Some of these exotic species become pests, which can
increase food losses and frequently alter natural habitats. From 40%
to 80% of agricultural pests are biological invaders, and -- despite
the 5 billion pounds of pesticide applied worldwide -- more than 40% of
potential food is destroyed by pests each year.
At present, humans face serious malnutrition, land degradation, water
pollution and shortages, and declining fossil energy resources. In
addition, with related changes in the natural environment, many
thousands of species are being lost forever. If the human population
increases dramatically over the next several decades, as it is projected
to do, the strains on these limited resources will grow as well.
Some people are starting to ask just how many people the Earth can
support if we want to cease degrading the environment and move to a
sustainable solar energy system? There is no solid answer yet, but the
best estimate is that Earth can support about 1 to 2 billion people with
an American Standard of living, good health, nutrition, prosperity,
personal dignity and freedom. This estimate suggests an optimal U.S.
population of 100 to 200 million. To achieve this goal, humans must
first stabilize their population and then gradually reduce their numbers
to achieve a sustainable society in terms of both economics and
environmental resources. With fair policies and realistic incentives,
such a reduction in the human population can be achieved over the next
century.
David Pimentel is a professor of ecology and agricultural science at the
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca,
NY 14853-0901. His Ph.D. is from Cornell University. His research
spans the fields of basic population ecology, ecological and economic
aspects of pest control, biological control, biotechnology, sustainable
agriculture, land and water conservation, natural resource management,
and environmental policy. Pimentel has published more than 490
scientific papers and 20 books and has served on many national and
government committees including the National Academy of Sciences;
President's Science Advisory Council; U.S. Department of Agriculture;
U.S. Department of Energy; U.S. Department of Health, Education and
Welfare; Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress; and the
U.S. State Department. From Pop!ulation Press vol 5, # 3, March/April
1999.
http://www.populationpress.org/essays/essay-pimentel.html
This year’s reports of record melting of the earth’s ice sheets and
extreme droughts have given a new urgency to Bartholomew’s messages
about the degrading natural world. While economists and politicians
prescribe more growth and consumption to overcome economic crises, the
patriarch insists that the real crisis is cultural and spiritual, and
can be overcome only by moving away from rampant materialism.
All human beings, he has said, should draw a distinction “between what we want and what we need.”
In September, he published a strongly worded encyclical
calling on all Orthodox Christians to repent “for our sinfulness” in
not doing enough to protect the planet. Biodiversity, “the work of
divine wisdom,” was not granted to humanity to abuse it, he wrote; human
dominion over the earth does not mean the right to greedily acquire and
destroy its resources. He singled out “the powerful of this world,”
saying they need a new mind-set to stop destroying the planet for profit
or short-term interest.
The region known as La Mixteca northeast of the City of Oaxaca looks like a desert, though in the past it was covered with forest.The desolate landscape and desertification process are the result of generations of bad land-use practices. The causes that converted forests into wastelands are many and complex. Some say the tradition of overexploiting natural resources extends back to the days of the Aztecs, who demanded heavy tribute from the local Mixtec population. During the centuries of Spanish colonization, the construction of massive missions required large amounts of lumber, and goats were introduced into an already degraded landscape. The region became a corridor for driving goats to market, and excessive grazing prevented the recovery of forests that were logged for railroad ties, cleared for agriculture expansion, or (mainly oaks) cut for firewood and charcoal – the primary fuel in the region’s rural communities to this day.
Centuries of degradation were exacerbated during the second half of the Twentieth Century by the Mexican government’s agrarian policy and Green Revolution technology. Government policies offered credit only to cultivate monoculture cash crops, driving the ancient and ecologically sustainable milpa system into virtual extinction. Monocultures exhausted the soil and exposed it to erosion. The Green Revolution brought chemical fertilizers, which boosted crop yields, but the benefits were short-lived. Soil erosion and degradation continued, compelling farmers to use ever-increasing amounts of fertilizers. Depleted soils and high fertilizer costs forced farmers to abandon their fields, extending their agriculture into newly clear-cut lands. Deforestation and erosion accelerated, and today the region suffers one of the highest rates of erosion on the planet. It is one of the poorest regions in Mexico, unable to produce enough to feed itself, and has one of the nation’s highest rates of emigration.
Deforestation and erosion make the Mixtec Highland look like a desert
The Solutions
But recently this region received international attention for doing things right. In 2008, Jesús León Santos and the Center for Integral Farmer Development (CEDICAM) received the Goldman Environmental Prize for their work on reforestation, soil conservation, and sustainable agriculture.
On behalf of the Government and people of Kiribati I am pleased to welcome you to this web site which is designed to bring you information and updates on our situation in Kiribati.
You will be aware that our small country is facing critically difficult times with regard to climate change issues & its impact on our future. We hope the content and links from this site will assist you in understanding more clearly our situation. I am also pleased to refer you to the short video clip "Kiribati - A Call to the World" here on this page which very much represents the concerns and feelings of our people.
We thank you sincerely for your interest, and refer you to this site, or the contacts detailed here, if any further information is required. In closing may I offer our traditional Kiribati blessing—Te Mauri, Te Raoi ao Te Tabomoa—may good health, peace and prosperity be with you all.
The billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch are known for funneling vast donations into Republican campaigns in the United States. But what impact are the Koch brothers having on global warming? As the United States is accused of blocking progress at the U.N. climate talks in Doha, a new report says the Koch brothers may be the biggest force behind the climate stalemate. The Kochs run oil refineries and control thousands of miles of pipeline, giving them a massive personal stake in the fossil fuel industry. Researchers say they have also funneled tens of millions into climate denial science, lobbying and other efforts to derail policy that could lessen the impact of global warming. We’re joined by Victor Menotti, executive director of the International Forum on Globalization.
"Billionaires Who Benefit From Today’s Climate Crisis"
December 6, 2011
The International Forum on Globalization (IFG) released a special report today, “Outing the Oligarchy: Billionaires Who Benefit From Today’s Climate Crisis,” which identifies the world’s top 50 individuals whose investments benefit from climate change and whose influence networks block efforts to phase out pollution from fossil fuels.
IFG’s report comes as global debates intensify on how best to protect the climate and how best to counter the corrupting power of extreme wealth over politics. The report draws the links between the two debates and identifies the emerging, ultra-rich tycoons who are deepening the world’s climate crisis.
The world’s richest corporations and capitalists have been branded by the Occupy Wall Street movement as the “one percent,” yet there has been scant attention to the individuals within in the “one percent” who have greatest responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions. Little information has been publicly available about the identities of the industrialists, investors and ideologues who are most responsible for the decisions over carbon-intensive activities that drive greenhouse gas emissions far past danger levels.
IFG’s new report brings this information to light. The task of calculating carbon decision-making footprints is highly complex. However, IFG’s new study is an initial step in what will be a longer-term initiative of analyzing the roles played by the planet’s worst carbon culprits and how they fund sophisticated influence networks over almost all aspects of government policymaking, especially energy.
“Here we have the ‘Who's Who List’ of crony capitalists who have gotten rich by polluting the planet, and now they are plowing their cash back in to prevent any legal protections for the planet and its most vulnerable peoples,” said Victor Menotti, IFG director and co-author of the report. “Behind each of these billionaires are the stories of countless peoples and places that are being erased from the face of the earth by unregulated greenhouse gas emissions. These climate destroyers must be pulled out of the shadows so that peoples of the world can understand who is responsible for the world’s predicament and can figure out the solutions.”
Leading climate activist Bill McKibben said, “Saving our climate means knowing who is stopping solutions, and the 1 percent have a responsibility to step up and help shift today’s paradigm so that our planet stands a chance. This list helps make it clear why science has been ignored and reason thrown to the wind in the face of the greatest crisis we've ever faced.”
“India’s Great Oligarchs are exposed in the IFG report for their get-rich-quick gambles to grab more land and resources, which, in turn, concentrates even more political power in fewer hands in ‘the world’s largest democracy,’” said co-author and IFG board member from India, Dr. Vandana Shiva.
Dr. Jeffrey Winters, in the politics department at Northwestern University, calculates in his 2011 book, Oligarchy, that wealth in the US is twice as concentrated in the hands of the few at the top today as it was during the Roman Empire. Most Americans are shocked to find out that they live in a society that is vastly more unequal than Rome."
IFG is a global research and education center that helps bring grassroots perspectives to international economic and environmental policies. Based in the Presidio of San Francisco, California, IFG emerged in response to the creation of the World Trade Organization and was instrumental in educating people to turn out for the WTO's 1999 ministerial in Seattle. Among IFG’s numerous reports is the 2001 title, “Does Globalization Help the Poor?” which examines the impacts of global free trade on poverty. In addition to its research, education, and monitoring of multilateral trade, investment, finance, environmental, and human rights rule-making, IFG has been intensively engaged in global climate talks since the U.N. climate conference in Bali in 2007.
WELTON, Iowa(Reuters) - Bob Bowman runs his hand over a slender green corn leaf here on hisIowafarm, and sighs.
"This corn should be as high as my head right now, and it is only waist high," he says, as a cool morning breeze belies the 90-degree Fahrenheit temperatures forecast to descend by afternoon inWelton, Iowa.
"If we get rain real quick here, we might be down 25 percent," said Bowman of prospective losses from the persistent dryness. "If we don't get rain in the next two weeks, it will be a lot more serious."
Bowman farms 2,200 acres in east-central Iowa in one of the state's highest production areas. There may not be much to brag about this year, however.
After getting off to a record-fast planting pace following the mildest winter in decades in theMidwestthat promised a record harvest, the corn crop got into trouble when rains became scarce, especially during pollination when yields are set. And a scorching heat wave hit the state recently.
Taking a cue from a deteriorating crop, the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday cut its estimate of this year's corn production in the United States, the world's top grower and exporter, by 12 percent, slashing the average yield by a whopping 20 bushels to 146 per acre.
Prices of corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade have surged 40 percent this summer in the wake of the worst drought in about 25 years in the Midwest grain belt.
In Iowa, the top U.S. corn-growing state, there is still time for many fields to make at least half to three-quarters of their production potential. But some are already too far gone.
All of Iowa is now considered as "abnormally dry," compared to none of the state a year ago, the U.S.Drought Monitorreported on Thursday.
About 13 percent of the state is now in severe drought, with the worst-hit areas in the east-central section and southeastern corner of the state. The entire eastern half of Iowa is in at least moderate drought.
Drought in the Midwest worsened over the past week, with a third of the nine-state region in severe to exceptional drought in the week ended July 10, up from about a quarter of the region a week earlier, the Drought Monitor said.
The toll that the drought is taking on the U.S. corn crop is so severe in some areas of the Midwest that farmers are writing off whole fields, or fear they will soon have to.
MISSOURI SUFFERS TOO
InMissouri, the misery is amplified. Corn farmers are watching weather forecasts and praying for rain relief while ranchers who have seen their pastures burn up in the heat and drought are scrambling to secure now hard-to-find and high-priced hay and grain to feed their hungry animals.
"The drought is very serious all the way across Missouri," said Eddie Hamill, state director of the USDA's Farm Service Agency.
To try to aid farmers who badly need hay for their cattle, the USDA has agreed to release land in 14 Missouri counties from conservation programs and Gov. Jay Nixon has requested federal approval to release land in all 114 counties throughout the state as part of a disaster declaration.
"This is the worst drought I have ever seen in my lifetime," said Hamill.
In Iowa, Gov. Terry Branstad will hold a town hall meeting in Mount Pleasant, about 130 miles from capital Des Moines, on Tuesday to talk to residents about the impact of the drought on the state.
Corn is pollinating now -- at least trying to. The plants need roughly an inch of water a week to grow well. Spotty rain showers have dotted the region, but overall Iowa, and the entireMidwestis well short of normal rainfall.
Neal Keppy, a 35-year-old corn grower in Eldridge, Iowa, said he's never seen conditions this dire. Of his 1,200 acres of corn, he has lost hope for roughly half the crop.
One field is so bad he has stopped treating it with fungicides and insecticides, essentially letting disease and insects take what the drought has not yet killed.
"I have never seen anything like this," he said.
Land in this part of Iowa goes for $10,000 an acre or more and is known for its rich soils and good rainfall. The area typically boasts some of the highest production in the state. But this year things are starkly different.
"I see a whole lot more stalks without ears on them than do have ears," said Keppy. "We need to get some rain."
Corn conditions are so bad on Missouri farmer Joel Abeln fields that he is talking with his insurance agent about mowing down a portion of his 6,500 acres. "I don't want to put any more money into it. It would be cheaper to just bush hog it down," said Abeln.
He estimates his very best fields on his north-central Missouri farm this year will likely yield only about 75 to 80 bushels per acre, down from his average of about 150 bushels an acre.
Corn that should be above his head is only about knee-high. "This is the worst drought I have been through," he said.
(Additional reporting by Michael Hirtzer and Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by K.T. Arasu, John Picinich and Sofina Mirza-Reid)
The eastern U.S. on Monday was hammered by the fourth consecutive day of stifling heat after a weekend of violent storms that killed 15 people and knocked out power to millions.
More than 2 million people were still without power Monday morning, with the biggest concentration of outages in the Washington, D.C. area.
"Hot and hotter will continue to be the story from the plains to the Atlantic Coast for the next few days," the National Weather Service said.
Monday morning brought another grim challenge when many embarked on a difficult commute over roads with darkened stoplights.
Weather is specific events, climate is the long-term pattern. Catastrophes like the forest fire in Colorado that has expelled 32,000 people from their homes are the results of weather. But long-term climate change can increase the likelihood of such events. That is, we may have a big, wet snow in Colorado some winter in the near future. But you have to average it with all the winters like the past one, relatively warm and dry, and the latter will have the edge over time if we go on with our high-carbon ways.
Over the coming decades, the American Southwest will become drier and warmer as a result of all the carbon dioxide and soot that the US, China and other industrial societies are dumping into the atmosphere.
Therefore there will be more forest fires like the one in Colorado. And, as Deborah Zabarenko writes for Reuters, the scientific evidence on this dim future is building up.
Zabarenko follows up on a recent article in the journal Ecosphere, which lays out the case, and I was delighted to find is available in full text on the Web.
Professor Max A. Moritz at the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley and his colleagues find the long-term probability of increase of forest fires in the American southwest is high.
Texas and Arizona are among those states at risk — further evidence that the Red States that engage in active climate change denial are committing suicide. I suspect most Coloradans know exactly what is happening to them and why, and my heart goes out to them.
5 July 2012, Rome- The FAO Food Price Indexfell
for the third consecutive month in June 2012, dipping 1.8 percent from
May to its lowest level since September 2010. The four-point drop in
June brought the index to 201 points from a revised level of 205 points
in May 2012.
The index now stands at 15.4 percent below its peak
in February 2011. The average prices of all commodity groups in the
Index were below May levels, with the largest drop registered for oils
and fats.
Continued economic uncertainties and generally adequate
food supply prospects kept the index down although growing concerns
over dry weather sent prices of some crops higher toward the end of the
month.
Food commodity prices have started rising again recently,
mostly because of adverse weather and this may result in a rebound of
the Food Price Index in July.
FAO also lowered its forecast for
2012 world cereal production by more than 23 million tonnes from May,
which is likely to result in a smaller build-up of global stocks by the
end of seasons in 2013.
FAO’s new forecast for world cerealproduction
in 2012 stands at 2 396 million tonnes, still a record level and 2
percent up from the previous high registered last year.
Supply and demand situation adequate
According
to FAO’s latest assessment, the overall supply and demand situation in
2012/13 remains adequate thanks to abundant supplies of rice, a leading
food staple, and sufficient exportable supplies of wheat and coarse
grains.
But grain prices were very volatile in June due to
continuing dryness and above-average temperatures in most of the major
maize growing regions of the United States. Adverse weather is
diminishing prospects of an improvement in the maize supply situation
and FAO is monitoring the development closely.
High-level event on volatility and speculation The
issue of swinging food prices will be discussed by a high-level event
on “Food Price Volatility and Price Speculation” to be held at FAO on
Friday, 6 July. Speakers will include Leonel Fernández, President of
the Dominican Republic who will give a keynote address, and FAO
Director-General José Graziano da Silva.
“FAO has been actively
involved in studying food price volatility and identifying appropriate
policy responses,” said Graziano da Silva. “Our analytical work is
helping to deepen the understanding of the nature, causes and impacts of
volatility and of what governments and other stakeholders can do about
it.”
The FAO Food Price Index is a measure of the monthly change in average international prices of a basket of 55 food commodities.
Right now, Shell's Kulluk drilling rig is getting towed up the Pacific Coast to the Arctic.1
The Arctic has never been drilled for oil, not even under President George W. Bush. But at the end of March, the Obama Administration approved Shell Oil's inadequate spill plan for the Beaufort Sea.2
Drilling in these pristine waters could begin as soon as this summer. This is the eleventh hour.
But President Obama still has to approve the final Permit to Drill — and a decision could come by the end of this month.
The Arctic's Beaufort and Chukchi seas are like nurseries of the earth — providing crucial breeding ground and food supply for countless species of wildlife. Upsetting this habitat would have broad ripples through the wildlife food chain literally across the globe.
Almost exactly two years after the devastating Deepwater Horizon spill, the impacts are still being felt by the Gulf Coast and Gulf marine life. In many ways, we still don't understand the long term damage caused by the massive volume of spilled oil and toxic dispersants.
In his State of the Union address earlier this year, President Obama promised: "I will not back down from making sure an oil company can contain the kind of oil spill we saw in the Gulf two years ago."
But there is still no proven way to clean up an oil spill in the extreme arctic environment — which includes hurricane force storms, 20-foot swells, pervasive sea ice, low temperatures and months of darkness.3
President Obama says his energy plan is "all-of-the-above."
But between pushing the southern, export portion of the Keystone XL Pipeline, and now opening the Arctic to drill for oil that won't do anything to reduce gas prices,4 it seems a whole lot more like President Obama's energy plan is "oil-above-all."
President Obama needs to stand up to pressure from the oil industry, and admit what we all know: Drilling in the Arctic is a terrible, misguided idea, that's just not worth the risk to this one-of-a-kind area, or the damage we know it will do to our climate. Click below to automatically sign the petition below: http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=5546424&id=38375-5154581-0aIdmUx&t=10
