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ever
increasing pressure on food supplies
- “United States The last time America's grain
silos were so empty was in the early seventies, when the Soviet Union
bought much of the harvest. Washington is telling the World Food Programme
it is facing a 40% increase in food commodity prices compared with last
year, and higher fuel bills to transport it, so the US, the biggest
single food aid contributor, will radically cut the amount it gives
away.
- “Morocco 34 people jailed this month for taking
part in riots over food prices.
- “Egypt The world's largest importer of wheat
has been hard hit by the global price rises, and most of the increase
will be absorbed in increased subsidies. The government has also had
to relax the rules on who is eligible for food aid, adding an extra
10.5 million people.
- “Eritrea It could be one of the states hardest
hit in Africa because of its reliance on imports. The price rises will
hit urban populations not previously thought vulnerable to a lack of
food.
- “Zimbabwe With annual inflation of 100,000%
and unemployment at 80%, price increases on staples can only worsen
the severe food shortages.
- “Yemen Prices of bread and other staples have
nearly doubled in the past four months, sparking riots in which at least
a dozen people were killed.
- “Russia The government struck a deal with producers
last year to freeze the price of milk, eggs, vegetable oil, bread and
kefir (a fermented milk drink). The freeze was due to last until the
end of January but was extended for another three months.
- “Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has asked
the WFP to feed an extra 2.5 million people, who are now in danger of
malnutrition as a result of a harsh winter and the effect of high world
prices in a country that is heavily dependent on imports.
- “Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf announced
this month that Pakistan would be going back to ration cards for the
first time since the 1980s, after the sharp increase in the price of
staples. These will help the poor (nearly half the population) buy subsidised
flour, wheat, sugar, pulses and cooking fat from state-owned outlets.
- “India The government will spend 250bn rupees
on food security. India is the world's second biggest wheat producer
but bought 5.5m tonnes in 2006, and 1.8m tonnes last year, driving up
world prices. It has banned the export of all forms of rice other than
luxury basmati.
- China Unusually severe blizzards have dramatically
cut agricultural production and sent prices for food staples soaring.
The overall food inflation rate is 18.2%. The cost of pork has increased
by more than half. The cost of food was rising fast even before the
bad weather moved in, as an increasingly prosperous population began
to demand as staples agricultural products previously seen as luxuries.
The government has increased taxes and imposed quotas on food exports,
while removing duties on food imports.
- Thailand The government is planning to freeze prices
of rice, cooking oil and noodles.
- Malaysia and the Philippines Malaysia is planning
strategic stockpiles of the country's staples. Meanwhile the Philippines
has made an unusual plea to Vietnam to guarantee its rice supplies.
Imports were previously left to the global market.
- Indonesia Food price rises have triggered protests
and the government has had to increase its food subsidies by over a
third to contain public anger.
related material
land conservation
and food production
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0801.php#food_shortages_260208
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it’s obvious the planet is too big for humans to have much effect
Keep on treating the planet as a dustbin....
dump the muck in the oceans....
dump it in the air....
dump it in the rivers....
no-one will notice.
The ocean pollution map incorporated into Google
Earth.
The deeper the red, the greater the stress or impact.
“Only about 4% of the world's oceans remain undamaged by human
activity, according to the first detailed global map of human impacts
on the seas.” [Quoted from bbc.co.uk]
Ocean pollution around Europe.
Note the high pollution in the shipping lanes
of the English Channel and the fishing and oil rig zones north of Scotland,
as well as ‘hot spots’ near many major ports, high traffic
zones and places little concerned about pollution
“Four years in the making, a groundbreaking new map of the state
of the world's oceans was released today [15/02/2008], and its message is stark:
Human activity has left a mark on nearly every square kilometer of sea,
severely compromising ecosystems in more than 40% of waters.
“The map, presented here at the annual meeting of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science (publisher of ScienceNOW)--and
published tomorrow in Science--combines 17 anthropogenic stressors,
including coastal runoff and pollution, warming water temperature due
to human-induced climate change, oil rigs that damage the sea floor,
and five different kinds of fishing. Hundreds of experts worked to weigh
and compare the stressors, overlaying them on top of maps that the scientists
built of various ecosystems, with data obtained from shipping maps,
satellite imagery, and scientific buoys. Then marine scientists modeled
how different ecosystems would be affected by the stressors, mapping
so-called impact scores onto square-kilometer-sized parcels worldwide.
The scores correspond to colored pixels on the new map.” [Quoted
from sciencemag.org]
The
17 anthropogenic stressors are:
- Artisanal Fishing
- Demersal Destructive Fishing
- Demersal Non-Destructive, High-Bycatch Fishing
- Demersal Non-Destructive, Low-Bycatch Fishing
- Inorganic Pollution
- Invasive Species
- Nutrient Input
- Ocean Acidification
- Benthic Structures (Oil Rigs)
- Organic Pollution
- Pelagic High-Bycatch Fishing
- Pelagic Low-Bycatch Fishing
- Ocean-Based Pollution
- Population Pressure
- Commercial Activity (Shipping)
- Climate Change (SST)
- Climate Change (UV)
Pollution in the ocean to the east of the USA.
Note, Iceland and the UK to top right.
The 14
distinct marine ecosystems studied are:
- Beach
- Coral Reefs
- Rocky Reef
- Hard Shelf
- Hard Slope
- Deep hard Bottom
- Intertidal Mud
- Kelp
- Mangroves
- Surface Waters
- Deep Waters
- Rocky Intertidal
- Sub-tidal Soft Bottom
- Soft Shelf
- Soft Slope
- Deep Soft Benthic
- Salt Marsh
- Seagrass
- Seamounts
- Suspension-Feeder Reef
Pollution in the seas around south-east Asia.
[All illustrations from Marine
Impacts KML viewed in Google
Earth.
To use the KML file linked above,
first download and install the Google Earth program [12.79Mb] on your computer.
Then click on the KML link and either “Open with Google Earth”,
or “Save To Disk”, saving to your computer to open in Google Earth later.
This information to be developed in detail.]
related material
anthropogenic
global warming, and ocean acidity
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0801.php#ocean_pollution_180208
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wheat prices near quadruple in two years
“The highest wheat price in U.S. history - more than $15 a bushel
- was reached Thursday in Minneapolis as a trading frenzy inflames the
grain markets, fans fears of spiking food costs and revives worries
about food shortages.
“With wheat stockpiles dwindling, a worldwide scramble is under
way for bushels of high-protein spring wheat, the variety grown in Minnesota
and the Dakotas and traded at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange. Already,
spring wheat prices have tripled in the past year and are poised to
move even higher.” [Quoted from twincities.com]
“Wheat prices may rise further because Farmers India, the world's
second-biggest grower, may harvest a smaller crop after dry weather
delayed planting.
“The crop may decline 5 percent to as low as 72 million metric
tons in the March-April harvest from 75.8 million tons a year earlier,
S. Pramod Kumar, president of Karnataka Roller Flour Mills Association,
said yesterday. That's less than the government estimate of 74.8 million
tons.” [Quoted from bloomberg.com]
“Wheat surged to a record in Chicago, leading other grains and
oilseeds higher, on shrinking U.S. and Canadian supplies of high-protein
varieties used for bread and pasta.
“Canada, the largest wheat exporter after the U.S., said yesterday
its inventories of the grain plunged by almost a third after adverse
weather hurt crops. U.S. spring-wheat inventories will total 88 million
bushels on May 31, down 25 percent from a year earlier, according to
government forecasts.” [Quoted from bloomberg.com]
related material
land conservation and food production
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0801.php#wheat_prices_090208
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trees versus pv panels
 “Sunnyvale
homeowners told to cut redwoods that block solar panels
“LAW: TREES BLOCKING NEIGHBOR'S SOLAR PANELS MUST BE CUT"
“ "On average, a tree only sequesters 14 pounds of carbon
dioxide a year and a solar electric system offsets that every two or
three days," he said.
“ [...] His 10-kilowatt solar system, which he installed in
2001, is so big he pays only about $60 a year in electrical bills[...]
”
“a solar electric system” is not defined
in this new report. They may mean this particular system, they may mean
the shaded array, or they may not!
Keep in mind that a 10kw unit will not produce at night,
and will not produce 10kw all day or in cloudy conditions.
related material
Photovoltaics
(solar cells)
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0801.php#solar_trees_290108
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some environment ‘reports’ this day
Increased
antarctic melt rate
“Using satellites to monitor most of Antarctica's coastline,
the scientists estimate that West Antarctica lost 132 billion tonnes
of ice in 2006, compared to about 83 billion tonnes in 1996. The Antarctic
Peninsula, which stretches toward South America, lost about 60 billion
tonnes in 2006.—
related material
antarctica
melting ice, sea levels, water and weather implications
biotech
push drought-resistant crops
“Two years ago, drought ate into corn production in France and
Spain so severely that analysts pegged it as the worst in fifty years.
“US corn production was down 5 percent because of drought in
2006.
“In Australia, where drought has persistent since 2002, some
wheat farmers last year reported failing to harvest a crop for the first
time in 40 years.
“And in Argentina, which grows about 22 million tonnes of corn
a year, drought has delayed planting of the current crop.”
large
corps start to free up ecology-related patents
“International Business Machines Corp, Pitney Bowes Inc and
other major companies will allow free use of 31 patents designed to
reduce pollution, the pro-ecology World Business Council for Sustainable
Development announced on Monday.
“IBM, which is spearheading the plan, is donating 27 patents
to the Eco-Patent Commons, which will be maintained by the World Business
Council.”
special
eco courts to open in the philippines
“The Philippine Supreme Court will designate special courts
to speed up a backlog of environmental cases and ensure polluters are
penalised for breaking the law, a spokesman confirmed on Monday.
“Manila's decision came as experts from the Asia-Pacific region
began a conference in Bangkok aimed at improving enforcement of environment
laws.
“Illegal mining, logging and overfishing are serious problems
in the Philippines but few violators are punished either because they
pay off officials or because overworked judges tend to prioritise civil
and criminal cases over environmental disputes.”
Plenty
more at this increasingly useful source.
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0801.php#environ_reports_160108
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mass extinction of frogs threatened
 “Scientists fear the largest mass extinction
since the disappearance of the dinosaurs because of a deadly virus which is sweeping
through populations of frogs, toads, newts, salamanders and caecilians across
the globe.
“Amphibians have thrived for hundreds of millions of years but
as many as half of all species could perish unless a solution is found.
The spread of the parasitic fungus amphibian chytrid, which has proved
deadly for hundreds of amphibian species, may have been made worse by
the effects of global warming. The disease has so far proved unstoppable
in the wild and can kill 80 per cent of native amphibians within months
once it has taken hold.”
—
“In addition to their intrinsic value, they offer many benefits
and are a critical part of a healthy world. They play an important role
in the food web as both predator and prey, eating insects which benefits
agriculture and minimizes disease spread. Their skin also has substances
that protect them from some microbes and viruses, offering promising
medical cures for a variety of human diseases.”
the
nature of extinction
When a species is heavily reduced, they are much more
vulnerable to small changes. The prey of birds and frogs may expand greatly,
or the raptors may run out of food.
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0801.php#frog_disease_020108
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