The United Nations Year of Forests 2011 was officially launched in New York this week, at a meeting of the UN’s Forum on Forests. The year aims to raise awareness of the sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests, and as reported by Reuters Alertnet, it is “the first major international meeting on forests afterRead More …
Forests in the spotlight in 2011
27 January, 2011 by (comments)Filed Under: Agro-ecology and Economics @en
Can climate modeling adapt to short-term extreme weather?
27 January, 2011 by (comments)Non-profit climate change news service The Daily Climate reports today on the need for more refined climate models, to help take account of short-term extreme weather events. The article notes: “A two-week heat snap can be devastating to both lives and livelihoods – for some crops even a few days of heat above 90ºF kills the season. But thatRead More …
Filed Under: Climate Change
Understanding La Niña
27 January, 2011 by (comments)There’s a great article by IRIN today about La Niña, the cyclical weather system which has been blamed by many for extreme weather events around the world in the past few months. Apparently the current La Niña cycle is one of the strongest in the last century – but what exactly is it, and why is it happening? UnpackingRead More …
Filed Under: Climate Change
Climate change film shows Bangladesh on the frontline
26 January, 2011 by (comments)This photofilm produced by the International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED), in conjunction with Panos, is a telling account of Bangladesh’s struggle to overcome the threat of rising sea levels and increasing floods, and is a testimony to human resilience. Afloat: Bangladesh adapts to climate change, told in four parts, shows how communities are being forced to changeRead More …
Filed Under: Asia @en, Climate Change, Multimedia @en, Regions
“Sustainable intensification” – what is it?
26 January, 2011 by (comments)Well, according to UK chief scientific adviser John Beddington, it is the only way we’re going to significantly increase the amount of food produced on the same amount of farmland to meet the challenges of a booming world population. Beddington oversaw the Foresight think-tank’s Global Food and Farming Futures report, which we blogged about yesterday, and which calls forRead More …
Filed Under: Agro-ecology and Economics @en
Revolution needed in food system that fails half the planet
25 January, 2011 by (comments)A major new UK government report has called for a radical overhaul of the world food system – because it is currently failing half of the people on the planet. With one billion people hungry, another one billion undernourished and a further one billion “substantially” over-consuming, the Global Food and Farming Futures report recommends a push for “sustainable intensification”Read More …
Filed Under: Agro-ecology and Economics @en
