Environment

In the last 30 years, the United States has grown more food using less land and with less environmental strain than ever believed possible. Fertilizers are better, pesticides are better and genetic modification has led to less need for both. But some scientifically developing nations, including much of Europe, are still using more antiquated approaches, and then means a lot of nitrogen. Nitrogen boosts plant growth and yield even on poor soils, which helps plants avoid the typical characteristics of nitrogen deficiency - stunted growth and pale or yellow leaves - but in…

What will McDonald’s do? The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday cleared a genetically engineered potato with two innovations that help both consumers and producers: The Simplot Innate potato resists bruising, which makes it more appealing to consumers (even though bruising generally does not impact the quality of the starchy vegetable); and it’s been modified to produce less of the chemical acrylamide when fried. Acrylamide has been linked to cancer in rats although there is no clear evidence that it poses harm to humans. The Innate offers a number of safety and ecological advantages…

A study that collected sea lion fecal samples and mussels from the ocean near the mouths of rivers as well as from the shore near sea lion haul-out sites along the central coast of California found that the pathogen Giardia duodenalis is present and the authors blame freshwater run-off sites. One of the G. duodenalis strains found is known to infect humans; the two others occur mostly in dogs and other canids. The scholars used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by DNA sequence analysis to investigate whether the pathogens were present. PCR is a method for "amplifying DNA," by…

Credit: Goldenrice.org By XiaoZhi Lim, Genetic Literacy Project The Green Revolution that began in the 1940s and 50s brought about large increases in crop yields and saved millions of people from mass famine. Yet malnutrition remains widely prevalent around the globe. And, while many people eat enough calories, many do not get enough nutrients. Now, plant breeders and biotechnologists are working on a new Green Revolution to make crops produce more nutrients, a process called biofortification. Recently, several new biofortified crops have been in the news: an orange ‘super banana’…

Organic marketing may like to portray itself as small mom-and-pop farmers standing up to Big Agriculture and corporate food, but they have a business juggernaut that would be the envy of anyone in any business.  And it's going to get better. The report new “Global Organic Foods&Beverages Market Analysis by Products, Geography, Regulations, Pricing Trends,&Forecasts (2010 – 2015)” analyzes the organic food, beverages, and supplements market by products and geography and studies the major market drivers and opportunities for organic food and beverages in major geographies of North…

Ebola: EU Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection, CC BY-SA By Richard Kock, Royal Veterinary College The still growing Ebola virus outbreak not only highlights the tragedy enveloping the areas most affected but also offers a commentary on they way in which the political ecology in West Africa allowed this disease to become established. The narrative goes that the virus appeared spontaneously in the forest villages of Guinea in December 2013. But this is debatable given that there is evidence of antibodies to Ebola virus in human blood from Sierra Leone up to five years previously. After months…

Damage assessments from environmental hazards are always a challenge because of the competing constituencies pulling on science and the fuzzy nature of estimates. After the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama administration was editing science reports to reflect its goals, environmentalists were raising money claiming earth was ruined and using wild guesses for damage, and BP lobbyists were mitigating penalties behind the scenes by claiming it wasn't so bad. What about possibly 2 million barrels of oil that are still down there? Are they a hazard? Where did they go?…

In the 1960s and '70s, population bomb reality was said to be as settled as climate change is today. No less than Dr. John Holdren, current Obama administration Science Czar, co-authored a book called Ecoscience, which argued that forced sterilization and mass abortions might  be necessary, and even viable under the equal protection clause of the Constitution. And older people today still think population is the problem, though since food and energy are not major issues, they argue culling humanity might be necessary to save the environment. New multi-scenario modeling of world human…

No-till farming is prized by organic and conservation-minded farmers alike because it seeks a chemical-free management practice, avoiding conventional plowing and otherwise disturbing the soil. It sounds terrific but a new meta-analysis finds it is a lot more limited in value than believed. As the core principle of conservation agriculture, no-till has been promoted worldwide in an effort to sustainably meet global food demand. Results from 610 peer-reviewed studies say it isn't so. Instead, no-till often leads to yield declines compared to conventional tillage systems. "The big challenge for…

The Ord River dam, completed in 1971, formed Australia's largest artificial lake in the far north west. Graeme Churchard/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA By Willem Vervoort, University of Sydney Some 27 irrigation and dam projects are highlighted in the green paper for agricultural competitiveness released this week by agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce. Six of the projects – five in Tasmania, one in Victoria – are considered well-advanced enough to receive federal funding within 12 months. Another 21 will be considered. The paper highlights investment in water as a priority for the future. While several…