Why World Food Prices Are Poised to Keep Climbing

Source: Lester Brown, Treehugger In February, world food prices reached the highest level on record. Soaring food prices are already a source of spreading hunger and political unrest, and it appears likely that they will climb further in the months ahead. As a result of an extraordinarily tight grain situation, this year’s harvest will be one of the most closely watched in years. Last year, the world produced 2,180 million tons of grain. It consumed 2,240 million tons,... Read More

Well Rehabilitation Program Brings Clean Water and Escape From Arranged Marriages in Rural India

Source: Sara Novak, Treehugger Ram Rati has been overcoming obstacles since she was a child. Married off at age 11, she escaped and made ends meet grinding wheat. But today Rati is a hero in her community. She was tired of the wells in her village breaking down so she decided to fix them herself. Now she’s a trained well mechanic, bringing her Northern India village fresh water and offering hope to struggling women. Read More  Read More

No Seeds, no Independent Research

Source: Doug Gurian-Sherman, Los Angeles Times Soybeans, corn, cotton and canola — most of the acres planted in these crops in the United States are genetically altered. “Transgenic” seeds can save farmers time and reduce the use of some insecticides, but herbicide use is higher, and respected experts argue that some genetically engineered crops may also pose serious health and environmental risks. Also, the benefits of genetically engineered crops may be overstated.... Read More

Egypt: UN officials urge Government restraint, respect for human rights

Source: UN News Centre Top United Nations officials today urged the Government of Egypt to protect the rights of its citizens amid the political protests taking place in the country, particularly freedoms of expression, information and assembly. “One of the ground principles of democracy is to protect and ensure the freedom of speech of the people,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters in Davos, Switzerland, when asked about the situation in Egypt. Read More  Read More

UN sets humanitarian agenda for 2011: save more lives, more quickly

Source: UN News Centre With climate change presaging natural mega-disasters, aid workers facing mounting attacks in conflict areas and the economic crisis crimping resources, the United Nations office coordinating the global humanitarian response announced its agenda for 2011 today: more lives saved, more rapidly, with fewer gaps and less duplication. “In a changing world there can be no organizational status quo,” Valerie Amos, who heads the UN Office for the Coordination... Read More

One year later, Haiti’s symbolic sites are sadly unchanged

Source: Moni Basu, CNN In some places in the Haitian capital, it’s difficult to imagine a year has passed since a massive earthquake wrought unfathomable destruction and misery. The evidence still lies in heaps of rubble and in the words of people — almost everyone can tell a story of survival. On the first anniversary of that wretched day, CNN returned to places that became iconic images of Haiti’s horror to see what had changed, and what had not. Read More  Read More

The science is in: save the whales, save the planet

Source: Reese Halter, Sydney Morning Herald Last year, Iceland and Norway killed 688 whales while Japan, under the guise of “scientific research”, slaughtered 1000 whales. In the 20th century humans killed 1.5 million whales around the globe. But reports from the past couple of months indicate that in order to save the Earth whales must be protected. Whales are helping researchers determine atmospheric science, Arctic oceanography, the extent of global warming, marine... Read More

UN climate official: do more to cut emissions

Source: Arthur Max, The Washington Post Christiana Figueres, head of the U.N. climate change secretariat, said all countries, especially in the industrial world, need to deepen their commitments to cut greenhouse gases and to quickly launch new funds to help developing countries adapt to global warming. Pledges submitted so far to reduce emissions over the next decade amount to just 60 percent of what scientists say would be required to have a 50 percent chance to keep the Earth... Read More

UN Security Council: A Step Toward Justice for Women

Source: Human Rights Watch The UN Security Council’s decision on December 16, 2010, to shame publicly the armed groups that target women for sexual abuse is a tremendous step toward ending this horrendous practice, Human Rights Watch said today. As it started a day-long debate on rape in war, the council unanimously adopted a resolution that calls for annual publication of a list of armed groups proven to engage in deliberate campaigns of sexual violence. The resolution... Read More

FDA: US livestock fed 28.7M lbs of antibiotics in 2009

Source: Siel Ju, Mother Nature Network If you still eat “conventional” meat — you know, the factory-farmed, antibiotics-fed stuff — you’re eating a whole lot of antibiotics. For the first time, the FDA revealed a whole lot of antibiotics are given to U.S. livestock — 28.7 million pounds a year (PDF), to be exact. In comparison, humans go through just 3 million pounds of antibiotics a year, according to a 2001 Union of Concerned Scientists report. Read More  Read More