December 2007
Monthly Archive
Wed 19 Dec 2007
Droughts have affected harvests, pushing prices up
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The soaring cost of food is threatening millions of people in poor countries, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned. Food prices have risen an unprecedented 40% in the last year and many nations may be unable to cope, the agency says.
It is calling for help for farmers in poor countries to buy seeds and fertiliser, and for a review of the impact of bio-fuels on food production.
The FAO says 37 countries face food crises due to conflict and disaster. (more…)
Wed 19 Dec 2007
Sea level rise is fuelled by melting ice in Greenland and Antarctica
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The world’s sea levels could rise twice as high this century as UN climate scientists have previously predicted, according to a study. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change proposes a maximum sea level rise of 81cm (32in) this century.
But in the journal Nature Geoscience, researchers say the true maximum could be about twice that: 163cm (64in).
They looked at what happened more than 100,000 years ago - the last time Earth was this warm.
The results join other studies showing that current sea level projections may be very conservative.
Sea level rise is a key effect of global climate change. There are two major contributory effects: expansion of sea water as the oceans warm, and the melting of ice over land. (more…)
