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?
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Is tilapia a human-made freak that we should avoid — or an evolutionary rockstar?
Posts were appearing on my Facebook feed warning against the dangers of eating tilapia. So I decided to do a ...
Are we facing an ‘Insect Apocalypse’ caused by ‘intensive, industrial’ farming and agricultural chemicals? The media say yes; Science says ‘no’
The media call it the “Insect Apocalypse”. In the past few years, the phrase has become an accepted truth of ...
Disease resistance, crop diversity and enhanced fertilizer efficiency: Three desperately needed improvements that CRISPR brings to agriculture
Moderated by Howard-Yana Shapiro, a distinguished senior fellow at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), the March 19 and 20 World ...
Robots with poison guns target weeds and offer an alternative to some herbicides
The plants we eat have bitter enemies on all sides. Can robots with poison guns help them? “Aggressive weeds, insects, ...
Viewpoint: Do we have to give up beef to limit climate change?
Are cows really a major cause of climate change? Wealthy nations are not pushing people to switch to a plant-based ...
Pest resistant beans: Gates Foundation in Nigeria helps develop insect-resistant, higher yield cowpeas
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is supporting the Kano State Government [in Nigeria] with anti-pest beans, a species developed ...
Viewpoint: Public investment in agricultural innovation is woefully inadequate. Here’s what should be done
Doubling government funding for agricultural research and development (R&D) would have tremendous environmental and economic benefits, according to a new ...
Small rise in global temperature ‘will make a big impact on honey bees’. Is there a solution?
The famous work ethic of honey bees might spell disaster for these busy crop pollinators as the climate warms, new ...
Viewpoint: Ready to abandon milk and meat to improve health and save the environment? Not so fast.
Substituting meat and dairy with more plant-based foods in our diets can achieve benefits for human and environmental health: this is ...
Farming uses too much water? These CRISPR gene-edited tomatoes resist drought and still bear fruit
Researchers have successfully used CRISPR to develop tomato plants that use water more efficiently, meaning they need less water to grow. This ...
How gene editing and AI can drive sustainable forestry and revolutionize the paper industry
About a quarter of wood consists of something called lignin. While lignin serves an important role for trees, helping them grow taller and get ...
Are GMOs causing an increase in allergies?
The potential for allergies from foods with genetically modified ingredients is no higher than that in any food, including organics ...
Defying critics, US honeybee population continues five-year surge to record high — but not all the news is good
After almost two decades of relentless colony collapse coverage and years of grieving suspiciously clean windshields, we were stunned to run the numbers on the new ...
Viewpoint: There’s enough common ground for organic, regenerative, and conventional agriculture to live in harmony
Agriculture has been mired in a philosophical war for decades. One, the so-called establishment: multi-generational, legacy farmers, who practice conventional ...
What is ‘carbon farming’ and could it provide a path to a more sustainable agricultural future?
As the effects of climate change intensify and paths for limiting global warming narrow, politicians, media and environmental advocates have rallied behind ...
‘Over a million seeds are safely locked away here’: Remote Norwegian island keeps Earth’s plant diversity safe in case of disaster
“Over a million seeds are safely locked away here,” Ola Westengen says. He is a researcher and former head of ...
White and brown bears: Are hybrid ‘pizzly bears’ better suited for our rapidly warming world?
Could beige-coloured hybrid bears bread from polar bears and brown bears potentially evolve into a superior type of bear? ...
Organic production in France slides as focus shifts to climate change and organic yield lag
The 21st Agence Bio barometer sheds new light on the causes of France's disenchantment with organic products ...
Methane is 28 times more powerful than CO2, and it’s increasing in the atmosphere. Here’s why and what must be done
The greenhouse gas methane is 28 times more powerful than CO2, and its presence is increasing in the atmosphere ...
Bacteria that cleans sewage? Microbes have evolved to break down medications that we excrete
Many wastewater treatment plants mix wastewater and air in a tank to form an activated sludge, which helps bacteria break ...
In 2023, humans generated more energy-related emissions than ever before. Here’s why clean energy hydropower was the culprit
Hydropower is a staple of clean energy and it’s one of the world’s largest sources of renewable electricity ...
Food security challenged Pakistan reevaluating benefits of currently-banned GMO crops
For the last two decades, Pakistan has faced several challenges, such as drought, salinity, temperature, climate change, and an increasing ...
‘This is one of the worst droughts of my lifetime’: Renewed push for insect-resistant GMO corn to ward off insect-invasions
“This is one of the worst droughts I have ever seen in my life. I don’t know what to do,” ...
AI poised to develop new agricultural practices to curtail plant pests and disease
In keeping with the age-old saying: ‘prevention is better than a cure’ more sustainable approaches should await the farmers of ...
Epigenetics opens new pathway to producing climate-resilient crops
Genetic manipulations such as RNAi silencing and CRISPR are helping researchers and plant breeders enhance traits and characteristics ...
When a farmer and a dietitian are the same person: Telling stories to counter misinformation about biotechnology
Jennie Schmidt, Third-Generation Maryland Farmer, Registered Dietitian, Member of the Global Farmer Network | March 1, 2024 Highlights: Combining a ...
Perfume made from recycled carbon? New technology can transform CO2 from steel mill emissions into sustainable fragrances
Sustainability of fragrances, alcohol, the main constituent of most juices; can now be obtained using more environmental practices ...
