For many years, farmers across the United States have been encouraged by the Federal Government to spread sewage from homes and factories on farmland as fertilizer. This sludge, obtained from wastewater treatment plants, was rich in nutrients, and it helped keep the sewage out of landfills. But research now shows that this black sludge (called “biosolids”) can contain heavy concentrations of chemicals that can increase…
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“Species introduced to new regions through human activities are termed alien species. Invasive alien species represent a subset of alien species – animals, plants, and other organisms – known to have established and spread with negative impacts on biodiversity, local ecosystems and species. Some of the most problematic invasive alien species arrive through multiple introduction pathways and repeated introduction. Invasive alien species are recognized as…
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The Great Plains and Midwest regions of the Unted States are seeing more and larger dust storms and higher levels of dust in the atmosphere. The increase has corresponded to an intensification of corporate agricultural practices in these regions–an example is the plowing of grasslands and marginal agricultural land in order to grow more corn for the production of biofuels. Even modest corn production on…
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Our changing climate is impacting agriculture today and will continue for decades to come. No place on Earth is immune to this; the major growing areas of the world are being affected. Additional impacts brought on by war, supply chain issues, resource shortages, and more just add to the impacts and the consequences. And beyond smaller harvests, crops grown in high carbon dioxide (CO2) conditions…
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On an international scale, food waste is a big problem. “The largest contribution to food waste is from the consumption stage, where household food waste represents the largest share.” In a time of growing food insecurity even in so-called richer countries–due to war, the effects of climate change on agriculture, supply chain problems, and more–wasting a large percentage of the food that is produced magnifies…
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Climate change is impacting agriculture around the world. The greater frequency of weather extremes including heatwaves, drought, and it’s opposite, torrential rainfall and flooding (and their consequences) are impacting crop yields and sometimes destroying harvests. The world’s population is growing; how do we feed more people when corporate agricultural practices and a changing climate are impacting the amount of food being grown and produced? One…
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