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Rich land, ample water, and human persistence have turned virgin prairie into the primary breadbasket for China, the world’s largest nation and second-largest economy that is pursuing grain production with a single-minded purpose.
New project finds that building the world’s fastest-growing economy risks public safety and tests global resource limits. Photo © J. Carl Ganter / Circle of Blue An expensive program to expand irrigation networks is occurring in Inner Mongolia, Jilin, and Liaoning provinces, which has prompted concern because it would push new irrigation canals into highly […]
The price of five internationally-traded staple crops rose 10 percent last month. The combination punch of drought and scorching heat in some of the world’s major agricultural regions has pushed food prices on international markets to record highs, according to the World Bank. In July, prices for corn and soybeans, which have been walloped by […]
Monsoon rainfall is 14 percent below average in India, which depends on rainwater to feed more than 50 percent of its agricultural land. Image courtesy of Voyage On Wheels via Flickr Creative Commons After a slow start, monsoon rains have picked up in India, but are still 14 percent below the long-term average. Deficient rains […]
Droughts have struck food-producing regions in the United States, Russia, China, North Korea, and South Korea, raising the prospect of higher commodity prices and localized food shortages. Photo courtesy of cindy47452 via Flickr Creative Commons A drought in the Midwest United States threatens what could be a record corn crop. U.S. farmers planted 39 million […]
Check back with Circle of Blue for the latest news and reports in the lead-up to, during, and after the Rio+20 conference. Make sure to stay tuned during the conference, as well, as we will be continuing our coverage through June 27.
A severe drought has gripped one of North Korea’s breadbasket provinces, raising fears of a worsening food crisis, AFP reported. The country suffers chronic food shortages, often exacerbated by floods, droughts, mismanagement and dwindling international aid. Ensuring food supplies for China’s growing population and economy is expected to be a key goal for Chinese Premier […]
Circle of Blue’s senior editor starts his second of three weeks reporting in the field from China, where new infrastructure over the next five years will give a big boost to farming in a northeastern province.
Nearly 2,000 communities in the United States will be eligible for money to filter atrazine, a popular weedkiller, from their drinking water. Last Friday, Swiss chemicals company Syngenta announced a proposed $US 105 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit brought by communities in six Midwestern U.S. states who claimed that atrazine — one of the […]
Energy and Climate The world’s top scientists are urging governments to look at water and energy as a single, linked issue and say that growing demands for both resources is one of three major global dilemmas, the Guardian reported. How dirty are Canada’s oil sands? Reuters looks at Europe and Canada’s battle over how to […]
India’s flawed water management could hinder its economic growth and political stability, Reuters reported, citing the expert charged with developing the country’s new water resource strategy. Agriculture & Drought A shortage of water in India’s Maharashtra state could affect the region’s sugar output unless it receives adequate rains during the June-September monsoon season, The Wall […]
The largest red tide algae bloom since 2000 is gripping the Texas Gulf Coast, the Associated Press reported. The prolonged Texas drought this year kept freshwater from reaching the Gulf, raising the salinity levels in which the algae thrive. Despite record-breaking rainfall in October, 99 percent of Texas remains under severe drought conditions, Think Progress […]
