Can the planet feed us?
As part of Planet Under Pressure, a BBC News series looking at some of the biggest environmental problems facing humanity, Alex Kirby explores the challenge of feeding the world without destroying the planet
Food & Water
Fuel for nought: biofuels = disaster
The adoption of biofuels would be a humanitarian and environmental disaster
As the well runs dry
South Australia should be acting now to avert the economic, social and agricultural catastrophe that will come as oil reserves decline and prices soar.
US: Surging Imports of Food Threaten Wider Trade Gap
America’s appetite for imported food is creating problems for the
U.S. economy. Agriculture, one of the few big sectors of the economy that could be
counted on to produce trade surpluses, has recently generated
monthly deficits — a development that could worsen the nation’s
already significant trade imbalance.
NZ: Farming must clean up its act
Green Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says farmers should stop seeing environmental concerns as a threat and recognise that it is essential to their economic interests to clean up their act.
People cause more soil erosion than all natural processes
Human activity causes 10 times more erosion of continental surfaces than all natural processes combined, an analysis by a University of Michigan geologist shows.
Oil prices push up the cost of dairy processing
The cost of a litre of milk could be about to get dearer, as dairy processors are hit by high world oil prices
US: Farmers dig in for oil crunch
With crude oil prices reaching the $50-plus per barrel mark last week, Louisiana farmers are facing an unsettling outlook for energy and other inputs as they look ahead to the 2005 growing season.
Water scarcity: A looming crisis?
As part of Planet Under Pressure, a BBC News Online series looking at some of the biggest environmental problems facing humanity, Alex Kirby explores fears of an impending global water crisis.
World Food Day: Iraqi farmers aren’t celebrating
Not only does the Iraqi government hand over their crude oil to US corporations, they now ban Iraqi farmers from saving their seeds. Transnational biotech corporations are given control over Iraqi seed banks.
Compromise, Hell!
Economic WMDs are being used against our people in a version of “freedom” that makes greed the dominant economic virtue.
Restoring Degraded Soils a Matter of Urgency
Research has shown that declining crops yields are, in most cases, exponentially linked to loss of soil quality. Soils are threatened by water and wind erosion, nutrient depletion and salinisation, among other things.