Sustainability/Climate Change
Food production needs are expected to roughly double over the next 35 years as the world population grows and people in under developed countries become more affluent and demand more calories. Healthy ecosystems are vital to the survival of all organisms. How can we grow crops without harming the environment? How can we balance technology and global food security? What is the right balance of organic and conventional farming? What role can genetics and biotechnology play without compromising the needs of tomorrow?
Below is the complete archive of related articles sorted by date.
Viewpoint: Hunger crisis — The number of countries unable to feed their populations has soared 400% since 2000. Here’s why crop biotechnology is a key solution
In the face of increasing population, adversely changing climate, shrinking agricultural lands, inputs such as energy, fertilizer and pestisite that ...
New study shows daffodils can reduce methane
Harnessing the power of daffodils to combat climate change is now a plausible idea if ongoing scientific experiments and field trials are ...
Viewpoint: Nigeria may be running out of farmable land. Is there a biotech-based solution?
It is probable that Nigeria would experience a scarcity of cultivable land and a notable reduction in the nitrogen levels ...
Viewpoint: GM crops already solving food insecurity — 37% less pesticides, 22% higher yields, and 68% greater earnings for farmers
Food insecurity and undernourishment are currently among the most serious anxieties for human health. As the world’s population goes on ...
How algae, mushrooms and grass can supplement ‘de-carbonization’ initiatives
The prominence of the forestry industry in Sweden’s bioeconomy has whipped up controversy. Many scientists, activists, and NGOs are critical of ...
Eight-country European study finds numerous pesticides reduce fertility in bumblebees
A new study has confirmed that pesticides, commonly used in farmland, significantly harm bumblebees – Ireland’s most important wild pollinators ...
How CRISPR trees could help us create optimized paper of the future
Wood consists of about 25 percent lignin, but the paper and fiber industries remove it because it lowers the quality ...
Reckoning for European Green Deal ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy: EU lawmakers side with farmers and consumers, bury plan to cut chemical pesticide use by 50%
In a stunning upset, the European Parliament voted down the "Sustainable Use of Pesticides" bill, which marked the cornerstone of ...
A start-up hopes to create carbon-storing ‘super-trees’. Hype or a possible breakthrough to address climate change?
At Living Carbon, [Patrick] Mellor is trying to design trees that grow faster and grab more carbon than their natural ...
Plastic paradox: ‘Dragging a net across the ocean to capture plastics may unintentionally trap the very organisms we aim to protect’
The ever-increasing problem of plastic pollution has prompted widespread efforts to combat it through innovative clean-up technologies. These advancements, however, ...
Cleaning up the atmosphere: Can seaweed farming help capture carbon dioxide?
Researchers are looking into a wide range of approaches to removing carbon from the atmosphere. Some are straightforwardly technical, like direct ...
Boosting taste, shelf life and climate resilience: Why creating a genetic map is the first step in creating the perfect apple
Leveraging unique genome mapping research from Dalhousie’s Faculty of Agriculture, startup Foodimprover is set to transform the global fruit sector’s ...
‘Our living seed bank belongs to future generations’: Colorado MASA Seed Project collects and preserves climate-change-resistant crop varieties
It’s not enough to just grow one’s own produce anymore; the first step is in planning for foods that can ...
Biofuels, e-fuels and solar fuels are possible substitutes for fossil fuels and electric vehicles. Is that realistic?
Synthetic fuels (or synfuels) are liquid or gaseous fuels that are practically similar to fossil fuels in everything but the ...
Can a company trademark ‘eco-friendly’ branding?
A decision over a sustainability-centric trademark in Argentina provides one of the latest looks at how trademark offices and courts ...
Robot bees: How can artificial pollination help vertical farming thrive?
Robotic pollinators resemble oversized bees equipped with wheels and an arm. This technological innovation is designed to address the pressing ...
Analysis: Do neonicotinoid and glyphosate pesticides threaten bees? A reassessment
"The honeybee is in no way endangered. If there’s a top ten list of what’s killing honey bee colonies, I’d ...
Viewpoint: Rejecting simplistic organic farming — Instead of worrying about which farming system is more ‘natural’, which is impossible to define, focus on sustainability
Back in 2004, Mendocino County in California hit the headlines after becoming the first county in the United States to vote ...
Deformed wing virus (DWV), one of the deadliest threats to bee health, seems to be evolving to be less harmful
This year’s cold and flu season is bringing good news for honey bees: Penn State researchers have found that the ...
Viewpoint: Inflation and climate change prompt American farmers to assess agricultural practices
Agricultural policy has gotten caught up in culture wars that have snarled other aspects of American life ...
Why China’s aggressive GM crop approvals represent real great leap forward in food security
China is getting close to commercially producing a variety of genetically modified crops and that is good news for Canadian ...
Viewpoint: Agroecology supporters raise doubts about whether biotechnology-based intensive agriculture can both increase production and minimize biodiversity loss
The idea that increasing agricultural productivity will free up land for biodiversity and solve global hunger is gaining popularity in ...
Transforming agricultural waste into bioplastics
Although bioplastics have been touted as a promising sustainable alternative to traditional plastics for some time, making bio-based materials that ...
Autism increase mystery solved? No, it’s not vaccines, GMOs, glyphosate—or organic foods
A change in how we diagnose and report autism and not vaccines, glyphosate or chemtrails is the prime mover as ...
Disaster interrupted: Which farming system better preserves insect populations: Organic or conventional?
A three-year run of fragmentary Armageddon-like studies had primed the journalism pumps and settled the media framing about the future ...
Viewpoint: Mexico’s GM crop import ban creates dire legal and trade consequences
In December 2020, Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), issued a decree banning genetically modified (GM) corn for human consumption. Mexico ...
Revising 10 fact-based perspectives on entrenched food myths: Gene editing is good, diet soda is fine, organics is not the answer
I’ve been trying to suss out true and false to the best of my inevitably human, imperfect ability, and for ...
