Agriculture

01/07/22
Author: 
George Monbiot
 Illustration: Sébastien Thibault/The Guardian

Jun 30, 2022

Modern biofuels are touted as a boon for the climate. But, used on a large scale, they are no more sustainable than whale oil

What can you say about governments that, in the midst of a global food crisis, choose instead to feed machines? You might say they were crazy, uncaring or cruel. But these words scarcely suffice when you seek to describe the burning of food while millions starve.

27/06/22
Author: 
Josh Grant
This photo from the fall of 2021 shows the progress being made on the construction of the $16 billion Site C dam. (B.C. Hydro/submitted)

Jun 27, 2022

Indigenous community's civil claim argued hydroelectric project violates Treaty 8

The West Moberly First Nations have reached a partial agreement with B.C. Hydro and the provincial and federal governments over a lawsuit that says the massive Site C hydroelectric dam in northeastern B.C. would destroy their territory and violate their rights.

24/06/22
Author: 
Jessica McDiarmid
Residents carry their belongings away from the floodwaters that have engulfed a swath of South Sudan for almost a year, uprooting nearly a million people. Climate change is causing catastrophes throughout the developing world. Photo courtesy of MSF

Jun 22, 2022

First, the animals die.

The chickens, cattle, goats — livestock that provides sustenance for people — starve, drown or perish from disease.

Next, the babies.

Children under five are most vulnerable to malnourishment, dehydration and illness. Their deaths are a bellwether of the devastation brought by famine, drought, flood and disaster.

Then, the elderly.

18/06/22
Author: 
The Canadian Press
Floodwaters are seen from the air in Abbotsford, B.C., on Nov. 23, 2021. File photo by The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward

June 16, 2022

November's floods in British Columbia that swamped homes and farms, swept away roads and bridges and killed five people are now the most costly weather event in provincial history.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada made the statement as it released the latest cost estimate of $675 million, and that's only for damage that was insured.

15/06/22
Author: 
Christopher Cheung and Michelle Gamage
Flooding is natural to the Lower Mainland. But with climate change and communities building so close to the water, people are increasingly exposed to disaster. Photo of Highway 1 near Chilliwack during the November 2021 floods courtesy of the BC government via Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

June 13, 2022

The Lower Mainland flooded in 1948. The next disaster will be worse. A Tyee series.

[(Tyee) Editor’s note : This is the first feature in a six-part series exploring life and risk on the Lower Mainland’s floodplain, the stretches of flat land in the region by the Fraser River and the coast. Stay with us this week as the series unfolds.]

01/06/22
Author: 
Nina Larson
The WHO accused the tobacco industry of various means of environmental damage, from widespread deforestation to spewing out plastic and chemical waste.

May 31, 2022

The tobacco industry is a far greater threat than many realise as it is one of the world's biggest polluters, from leaving mountains of waste to driving global warming, the WHO said Tuesday.

The World Health Organization accused the industry of causing widespread deforestation, diverting badly needed land and water in poor countries away from food production, spewing out plastic and chemical waste as well as emitting millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide.

19/05/22
Illustration: Eva Bee/The Guardian

May 19, 2022

Massive food producers hold too much power – and the regulators scarcely understand what is happening. Sound familiar?

For the past few years, scientists have been frantically sounding an alarm that governments refuse to hear: the global food system is beginning to look like the global financial system in the run-up to 2008.

29/04/22
Author: 
AFP in Delhi
Fire broke out at the Bhalaswa landfill in New Delhi on 28 April. Photograph: Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images

Apr. 28, 2022

Power stations face coal shortages while burning landfill chokes residents in New Delhi

Millions sweltered in a dangerous early summer heatwave across India and Pakistan that has led to power and water shortages as annual furnace-like temperatures hit South Asia.

In New Delhi, a burning rubbish dump choked residents for a third day on Thursday as temperatures crossed 45C (113F) in parts of the region. Forecasters warn it will get even hotter this weekend.

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