Climate

Could this be the end of certain foods? Image: REUTERS/Eduard Korniyenko

weforum.org - by Johnny Wood - August 19, 2019

As climate change warms the planet, unstable weather patterns and shifting seasons are disrupting how crops grow. 

Food producers face uncertainty as droughts, floods and storms become more frequent and rising temperatures lead to more disease, pests and weeds.

Here are five examples from around the world.

1. British brassicas

2. US apples

3. Coffee

4. Wheat

5. Californian peaches

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The boom in fracking for shale gas has dramatically increased global methane emissions. Photograph: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Ideas and perspectives: is shale gas a major driver of recent increase in global atmospheric methane?

Researchers say boom in shale oil and gas major contributor to climate emergency

theguardian.com - by Jillian Ambrose - August 14, 2019

The boom in the US shale gas and oil may have ignited a significant global spike in methane emissions blamed for accelerating the pace of the climate crisis, according to research . . .

. . . Researchers had previously assumed the “non-traditional” methane was from biological sources such as cows and wetlands, but the latest research suggests unconventional oil and gas from fracking may be playing a significant part.

The theory would support a correlation in the rise of methane in the atmosphere and the boom in fracking across the US over the last decade . . .

CLICK HERE - World Resources Institute (WRI) - Aqueduct Tools

theguardian.com - by Emily Holden and Vidhi Doshi - August 6, 2019

A quarter of the world’s population across 17 countries are living in regions of extremely high water stress, a measure of the level of competition over water resources, a new report reveals.

Experts at the World Resources Institute (WRI) warned that increasing water stress could lead to more “day zeroes” – a term that gained popularity in 2018 as Cape Town in South Africa came dangerously close to running out of water . . .

 . . . Although the US did not have high levels of water stress overall, a handful of states – including New Mexico and California – were found to be facing significant strains on their water supplies that will only intensify with global heating.

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CLICK HERE - STUDY - mBio - On the Emergence of Candida auris: Climate Change, Azoles, Swamps, and Birds

cnn.com - by Jen Christensen - July 23, 2019

The climate crisis may be to blame for the mysterious spread of a multidrug-resistant superbug, Candida auris, according to a study published Tuesday.

Until recently, scientists considered it a mystery how C. auris popped up in more than 30 countries around the globe a decade after it was first discovered in 2009. It emerged simultaneously on three continents -- in India, Venezuela and South Africa -- between 2012 and 2015, each strain being genetically distinct.

The new study, published in the journal mBio, says this serious public health threat may be the first example of a new fungal disease emerging because of the climate crisis.

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