Oslo | Reuters — A natural cooling of the Pacific Ocean has contributed to slow global warming in the past decade but the pause is unlikely to last much longer, U.S. scientists said on Thursday. The slowdown in the rate of rising temperatures, from faster gains in the 1980s and 1990s, has puzzled scientists because […] Read more
Study shows cooler Pacific slowed global warming, briefly
El Nino weather hits many crops, boosts soybeans: study
Oslo | Reuters — The El Nino weather phenomenon that is likely to strike this year damages world maize, rice and wheat yields but boosts soybeans, according to a study on Thursday that could help farmers plan what to grow. The Japanese-led report gave what it called a first global set of maps linking yields […] Read more
Decline in biodiversity of farmed plants, animals gathering pace
A decline in the diversity of farmed plants and livestock breeds is gathering pace, threatening future food supplies for the world’s growing population, the head of a new United Nations panel on biodiversity said Monday. Preserving neglected animal breeds and plants was necessary as they could have genes resistant to future diseases or to shifts […] Read more
‘Peak farmland’ is here, crop area seen diminishing
The amount of land needed to grow crops worldwide is at a peak, and a geographical area more than twice the size of France will be able to return to its natural state by 2060 as a result of rising yields and slower population growth, a group of experts said on Monday. Their report, conflicting […] Read more
Wheat scientists seek to slow Ug99 in Africa, Asia
Wheat experts are stepping up monitoring of a crop disease first found in Africa in 1999 to minimise the spread of a deadly fungus that is also a threat in Asia, experts said on Friday. A "Rust-Tracker" using data supplied by farmers and scientists could now monitor the fungus in 27 developing nations across 103 […] Read more
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