24/7 Farm  News Coverage
December 12, 2018
WATER WORLD
Trump administration rolls back clean water protections



Washington (AFP) Dec 11, 2018
The US government on Tuesday unveiled a plan to roll back clean water rules protecting the nation's waterways and wetlands, fulfilling a pledge from President Donald Trump to farmers and supporters who view environmental regulations as too strict. The proposed changes to the Clean Water Act would "remove and replace" rules set by the administration of Barack Obama in 2015, which was widely praised by environmental protection activists. That rule limited the runoff from pesticide and fertilizer p ... read more

FARM NEWS
Red gold: Afghanistan saffron production grows
Herat, Afghanistan (AFP) Dec 12, 2018
Starting before dawn has even broken, Afghanistan's army of saffron pickers shift their way across sun-baked fields to pluck brightly the coloured crocuses that are providing the country's farmers with a new means of income. ... more
EARTH OBSERVATION
BASF and VanderSat collaborate to provide farmers with high-precision, field-specific crop optimization
Ludwigshafen, Germany (SPX) Dec 10, 2018
BASF and the Dutch Earth observation company VanderSat are collaborating to support farmers worldwide with even more precise, satellite data-based recommendations on application of crop inputs. Vand ... more
FARM NEWS
German farmers sue government over missed climate targets
Vetschau, Germany (AFP) Dec 8, 2018
Dismayed by the German government's failure to meet climate protection targets, dairy farmer Heiner Luetke Schwienhorst has filed a lawsuit against Berlin to force it into action. ... more
FARM NEWS
Egypt's fertile Nile Delta threatened by climate change
Kafr Al-Dawar, Egypt (AFP) Dec 7, 2018
Lush green fields blanket northern Egypt's Nile Delta, but the country's agricultural heartland and its vital freshwater resources are under threat from a warming climate. ... more
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TRADE WARS
Global economy in 2019: Growth beginning to fray
Washington (AFP) Dec 12, 2018
American farmers have been forced to warehouse a bumper crop of soybeans, or sell at a loss, while a Midwest medical supply company is considering shipping production overseas amid growing uncertainty. ... more
FARM NEWS
Climate change offers sparkling prospects to English winemakers
New Alresford, United Kingdom (AFP) Dec 6, 2018
With climate change pushing up temperatures, English winemakers are rubbing their hands as their sparkling wines start to give top champagnes a run for their money. ... more
FARM NEWS
Egypt's fertile Nile Delta threatened by climate change
Kafr Al-Dawar, Egypt (AFP) Dec 7, 2018
Lush green fields blanket northern Egypt's Nile Delta, but the country's agricultural heartland and its vital freshwater resources are under threat from a warming climate. ... more
FARM NEWS
Increasing crop insurances adoption in developing countries
Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Dec 06, 2018
Farmers in developing countries often rely heavily on their yearly harvest to feed their families. A bad crop can have severe consequences for their livelihood. Despite the significant advantages cr ... more
FARM NEWS
'Worst drought I have seen': Afghan farmers forced to flee
Herat, Afghanistan (AFP) Dec 7, 2018
Wheat and opium farmer Murad Khan Ishaqzai, 80, has never seen a drought as bad as the one ravaging western Afghanistan where more than 250,000 people have been forced to abandon their homes. ... more
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WATER WORLD
Flint, Michigan lead crisis should have buried the city in water bottles. So, why didn't it?
West Lafayette IN (SPX) Dec 06, 2018
One hundred thousand residents of Flint, Michigan could only use water from bottles or filters during a years-long lead contamination crisis, which started when the city switched to a new drinking w ... more
FARM NEWS
US farmers more cautious than hopeful after China trade deal
New York (AFP) Dec 4, 2018
President Donald Trump says American farmers will see immediate benefits from the trade detente with Beijing, but farm belt representatives are still cautious about declaring victory. ... more
WATER WORLD
US groundwater in peril: Potable supply less than thought
Tucson AZ (SPX) Dec 04, 2018
The U.S. groundwater supply is smaller than originally thought, according to a new research study that includes a University of Arizona hydrologist. The study provides important insights into ... more
FARM NEWS
Soil tilling, mulching key to China's potato crop
Boston MA (SPX) Dec 04, 2018
When you think of China, do you think of potatoes? Maybe not, but in the Loess Plateau region of northwestern China, potato is the main food crop. Even though it is such an important crop ther ... more
CLIMATE SCIENCE
Study shows regions increasingly suffer hot, dry conditions at the same time
Stanford CA (SPX) Dec 03, 2018
A new study from Stanford University suggests that the kind of hot, dry conditions that can shrink crop yields, destabilize food prices and lay the groundwork for devastating wildfires are increasin ... more


Scientists reveal substantial water loss in global landlocked regions

WATER WORLD
UK will have 'completely safe' water after Brexit
London (AFP) Nov 28, 2018
Britain's environment minister reassured the country on Wednesday that it would have plenty of safe drinking water should it crash out of the European Union without a deal. ... more
SEED DAILY



WATER WORLD
Drinking water sucked from the dusty desert air
Thuwal, Saudi Arabia (SPX) Nov 27, 2018
A simple device that can capture its own weight in water from fresh air and then release that water when warmed by sunlight could provide a secure new source of drinking water in remote arid regions ... more
FARM NEWS
The tragedy of the commons - minus the tragedy
Columbus OH (SPX) Nov 27, 2018
Sometimes, there is no "tragedy" in the tragedy of the commons, according to a new analysis that challenges a widely accepted theory. Scientists have long believed that when there is open acce ... more
FARM NEWS
Floods ravage rice production in Niger's Diffa region
Niamey Nov 26, 2018
Floods destroyed more than 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of rice in Niger's southeastern Diffa region, already beset by deadly attacks by Boko Haram jihadists, the local governor said. ... more
FARM NEWS
New biocontainment strategy controls spread of escaped GMOs
Hiroshima NJ (SPX) Nov 27, 2018
Hiroshima University (HU) researchers successfully developed a biocontainment strategy for genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. Their new method prevents genetically modified cyanobacteria from ... more
WATER WORLD
Escaping death and rebirth on Varanasi's sacred riverbanks
Varanasi, India (AFP) Nov 23, 2018
Boats loaded with wood arrive almost constantly at the ghats of Varanasi for around 200 cremations per day on the banks of India's holy Ganges river. ... more
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Copernicus Sentinel-5P ozone boosts daily forecasts
Paris (ESA) Dec 06, 2018
Measurements of atmospheric ozone from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite are now being used in daily forecasts of air quality. Launched in October 2017, Copernicus Sentinel-5P - short for Sentinel-5 Precursor - is the first Copernicus satellite dedicated to monitoring our atmosphere. It is part of the fleet of Copernicus Sentinel missions that ESA develops for the European Union's envir ... more
+ NASA Science Shows Human Impact of Clean Air Policies
+ New ammonia emission sources detected from space
+ Ball Aerospace delivers pollution monitoring instrument to NASA
+ Experiments at PPPL show remarkable agreement with satellite sightings
+ exactEarth AIS Payload on the PAZ Radar Satellite is Now Live
+ BASF and VanderSat collaborate to provide farmers with high-precision, field-specific crop optimization
+ Macroscopic phenomena governed by microscopic physics
First Lockheed Martin-Built GPS III satellite encapsulated for Dec. 18 launch
Titusville, FL (SPX) Dec 12, 2018
The U.S. Air Force's first Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)-built GPS III satellite is now encapsulated for its planned December 18 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. GPS III Space Vehicle 01 (GPS III SV01) underwent pre-launch processing, fueling and encapsulation at Astrotech Space Operations, in Titusville, Florida. During encapsulation, GPS I ... more
+ UK will build its own satellite-navigation system after Brexit
+ Beijing's space navigation BeiDou program seeks to dethrone US-owned GPS platform
+ China expands use of BeiDou navigation system in transportation
+ China launches twin BeiDou navigation satellites
+ Finland summons Russian ambassador over GPS blocking claims
+ Russia blocked GPS data during NATO exercises: Norway
+ Finnish PM: Jammed GPS signals may be work of Russia


Chile's pine forests: a botanical dinosaur bound for extinction
Quinquen, Chile (AFP) Dec 11, 2018
In Quinquen, an indigenous community in southern Chile, Ricardo Melinir shows off a forest of Chilean pine trees - the araucaria araucana, a "living fossil" seen as sacred by several local tribes. He managed to save the "Monkey Puzzle" trees - some of which are 1,000 years old or more - from logging companies, but they are still under threat from blight and climate change. "It is diff ... more
+ Brazil's Bolsonaro completes cabinet with rightist environment chief
+ Amazon suffering 'epidemic' of illegal gold mines
+ New study makes 52 million tree stories more accessible to science
+ Snowpack declines may stunt tree growth and forests' ability to store carbon emissions
+ Brazil's Bolsonaro blasts govt environmental agencies
+ Brazil loses 'one million football pitches' worth of forest
+ In Lebanon, climate change devours ancient cedar trees
In Mauritius, sugar cane means money, renewable energy
La Baraque, Mauritius (AFP) Dec 9, 2018
Far out into the Indian Ocean where it is forced to be self-reliant, the island nation of Mauritius is weaning itself off fossil fuels by turning to its main cash-crop sugar cane, for electricity. The leftover, crushed sugar cane stalks and tips - dry fibrous material known as "bagasse" - is burned to help power Mauritius and reduce its reliance on coal and oil. Electricity from sugar ... more
+ More bioplastics do not necessarily contribute to better outcomes
+ Agricultural waste drives us closer to greener transport
+ Bioplastics aren't all that great for the climate, either, study finds
+ Team converts wet biological waste to diesel-compatible fuel
+ Algae testbed experiment yields data useful for future projects
+ Researchers advance biomass transformation process
+ Paving the way for more efficient hydrogen cars


Lithuanian scientists' approach to perovskite solar cells - cheaper production and high efficiency
Kaunas, Lithuania (SPX) Dec 12, 2018
A team of chemists from Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Lithuania together with physicists from Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB) science institute, Germany are offering novel approach for the selective layer formation in perovskite solar cells. The molecule, synthesised by the KTU chemists, assembles itself into a monolayer, which can cover a variety of surfaces and can function as a hole t ... more
+ DNV GL's on-site solar lab brings advanced and reliable PV testing to the field in India
+ Fighting smog supports solar power
+ A 3D imaging technique unlocks properties of perovskite crystals
+ Sun-soaking device turns water into superheated steam
+ Efficient ternary all-polymer solar cells with PCE up to 9.03 percent
+ Seeing the light: Researchers offer solution for efficiency problem of artificial photosynthesis
+ Microscopic 'sunflowers' for better solar panels
Widespread decrease in wind energy resources found over the Northern Hemisphere
Beijing, China (SPX) Dec 06, 2018
As climate change is becoming more and more a matter of concern, efforts on mitigation are being undertaken by the world community. Developing clean and renewable energy is a major component of those efforts for its significant contribution to reducing carbon emission to the atmosphere compared with fossil fuel. In 2016, renewable energy contributes more than 19% to the global final energy ... more
+ Wind power vulnerable to climate change in India
+ Coordinated development could help wind farms be better neighbors
+ Roadmap to accelerate offshore wind industry in the United States
+ Denmark-based Orsted adds to its U.S. wind energy assets
+ Making wind farms more efficient
+ DNV GL successfully completed technical due diligence for 25 MW Windfloat Atlantic floating wind project
+ Wind farm 'predator' effect hits ecosystems: study


China's unbridled export of coal power imperils climate goals
Paris (AFP) Dec 5, 2018
Even as China struggles to curb domestic coal-fired power and the deadly pollution it produces, the world's top carbon emitter is aggressively exporting the same troubled technology to Asia, Africa and the Middle East, an investigation by AFP has shown. The carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from these Chinese-backed plants could cripple global efforts to rein in global warming caused by the bur ... more
+ For Poland's mining region, coal remains a way of life
+ Coal is still king in global power production
+ COP24 host Poland to stick with coal for forseeable future
+ Indian firm presses ahead with controversial Australia coal mine
+ Poland names coal companies partners for COP24 climate talks
+ Trump to nominate ex-coal lobbyist to head environment agency
+ Pakistan goes against the grain with coal power spree
China cracks down on unofficial Christian church
Beijing (AFP) Dec 10, 2018
Dozens of members of a prominent unofficial Protestant church and their pastor have gone missing in southwest China after authorities raided their homes, churchgoers said Monday, amid increasing restrictions on religious worship. The police sweep occurred Sunday night, according to a statement from the Early Rain Covenant Church, which is based in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. ... more
+ Thousands of Myanmar women forced into marriage in China: study
+ EU should worry about Huawei, other Chinese firms: official
+ Hong Kong democrats 'furious' over new election ban
+ Germany's top human rights official says barred from Xinjiang
+ The 'Chinese Pyramids' and the pole star
+ Award-winning photojournalist detained in China
+ Jack Ma, China's richest man, is a Communist Party member


Norfolk Navy Shipyard introducing exoskeletons for workers
Washington (UPI) Dec 7, 2018
The Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia is introducing exoskeletons for heavy manual work designed to prevent injuries and fatigue, according to the Navy. The Robotics Subcommittee has been investigating technologies that will assist shipyard employees. The Levitate AIRFRAME is a flexible mechanical back-mounted unit that helps stabilize core muscle and reduces physical energy expended b ... more
+ New models sense human trust in smart machines
+ Artificial joint restores wrist-like movements to forearm amputees
+ Insight into swimming fish could lead to robotics advances
+ Flexible electronic skin aids human-machine interactions
+ Embark on a NASA technology scavenger hunt with Optimus Prime
+ Smarter AI: Machine learning without negative data
+ DARPA, BAE to develop AI for interpreting radio-frequency signals
Waste plant fire stokes Italy garbage crisis
Rome (AFP) Dec 11, 2018
Twelve teams of firefighters battled Tuesday to put out a vast fire at a garbage dump in Rome as critics slammed the capital's beleaguered waste manager and warned of chaos to come. The odour of burning refuse wafted across the historic centre as the blaze, which began overnight, crept steadily from the site in the north-east of the city. City hall said it had called the national civil p ... more
+ Slow recycler Turkey seeks better uses for its trash
+ Lynas mulls 'legal options' after Malaysia imposes new conditions
+ Austrian court upholds acquittal for cashing in scrap euros
+ In the Balkans, winter cheer is darkened by a toxic smog
+ Nepal attempts record with a Dead Sea of plastic bags
+ India pollution watchdog fines Delhi over toxic smog
+ Indonesian island clean-up nets 40 tons of rubbish daily


Atmospheric scientists find causes of firenado in deadly Carr Fire
Reno NV (SPX) Dec 07, 2018
A destructive fire-generated vortex - a massive stream of rising, spinning, smoke, ash and fire - that topped out at 17,000 feet above the earth, accelerated the Carr fire that killed eight people and devastated a widespread area in the Redding, California region in July 2018. The vortex, a little-observed atmospheric phenomena, was spinning with the power of a class three tornado, which earned ... more
+ Wildfire ash can bind to, trap mercury
+ NASA Terra Satellite Outlines Burn Scar from California's Camp Fire
+ Thousands evacuated as Australian bushfires rage
+ NASA mobilizes to aid California fires response
+ California's deadliest wildfire finally tamed
+ California wildfire pollution paralyzes San Francisco region
+ Trump's forest remarks 'rake news' for Finland
Ocean fertilization by unusual microbes extends to frigid waters of Arctic Ocean
Santa Cruz CA (SPX) Dec 12, 2018
Microbes that provide natural fertilizer to the oceans by "fixing" nitrogen from the atmosphere into a form useable by other organisms were once thought to be limited to warm tropical and subtropical waters. Now, however, researchers have documented nitrogen fixation by an unusual type of cyanobacteria in the cold waters of the Bering and Chukchi Seas. "This goes against all the textbook a ... more
+ Another El Nino on the horizon?
+ Trump administration rolls back clean water protections
+ Growing seal population isn't a threat to Baltic fish stocks, study finds
+ A glimmer of hope for the world's coral reefs
+ Flint, Michigan lead crisis should have buried the city in water bottles. So, why didn't it?
+ Tracing iron in the North Pacific
+ Thriving reef fisheries continue to provide food despite coral bleaching


Heatwave death threat soars for elderly, city dwellers
Paris (AFP) Nov 29, 2018
More than 150 million vulnerable people worldwide were exposed to potentially life-threatening heatwaves last year, scientists said Thursday, warning that climate change posed an unprecedented global health risk. In a worldwide stocktake of public health trends, dozens of international agencies said people over 65, those living in large cities, and sufferers of heart and lung disease were al ... more
+ Northwest China hit by sandstorm as Beijing is smothered in smog
+ Flooding, traffic chaos as heavy rains lash Sydney
+ Extreme heat increasing in both summer and winter
+ Raindrops keep falling: Climate change makes storms worse - study
+ 'Total disaster' as Italy storms kill at least 30
+ US tornado frequency shifting eastward from Great Plains
+ Six Tanzanian schoolchildren killed in lightning strike
Global economy in 2019: Growth beginning to fray
Washington (AFP) Dec 12, 2018
American farmers have been forced to warehouse a bumper crop of soybeans, or sell at a loss, while a Midwest medical supply company is considering shipping production overseas amid growing uncertainty. Surveys of US business and consumer sentiment continued to show economic optimism going into next year but cracks are beginning to form - in the United States and around the world - with Pre ... more
+ Chinese, US negotiators discuss trade talks timetable
+ Trading blows: Canada next in China's crosshairs?
+ Huawei 'princess' becomes pawn in US-China trade row
+ Pioneer bought by Hong-Kong fund
+ China's factory gate inflation eases
+ China to 'immediately' implement US trade truce measures
+ China's surplus with the US hits new record in November
Daily Newsletters - Space - Military - Environment - Energy

Research provides insights into Sun's past, future
San Antonio TX (SPX) Dec 10, 2018
Andres Munoz-Jaramillo and Jose Manuel Vaquero, from Southwest Research Institute and University of Extremadura, respectively, have developed a new technique for looking at historic solar data to distinguish trustworthy observations from those that should be used with care. This work is critical to understanding the Sun's past and future as well as whether solar activity plays a role in climate ... more
+ Prediction of Sun's Activity Over the Next Decade
+ Auroras help scientists study energy instabilities in space
+ NASA retires prolific solar observatory after 16 years
+ Scientists map magnetic reconnection in Earth's magnetotail
+ Auroras Unlock the Physics of Energetic Processes in Space
+ Windy with a chance of magnetic storms - space weather science with cluster
+ A stellar achievement: Magnetized space winds in the laboratory
Study considers how climate change, shifting winds will impact migratory birds
Washington (UPI) Dec 11, 2018
New research suggests migratory birds in North America will be more likely to encounter headwinds as they fly southward each fall. However, changing wind patterns will make their springtime return less strenuous. Scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology used radar observations collected at 143 weather stations to measure the altitude, density and direction of birds migrating during ... more
+ Study shows how catnip synthesizes chemical that drives cats wild
+ Hummingbirds thrive at innovative Mexico gardens
+ Malaysia torches 2.8 tonnes of African pangolin scales
+ A bastard seal from the past reveals the potential for human hybrids
+ Chanel sheds crocodile and snake skin
+ Planting more hedgerows could help UK bees thrive once again
+ New study explores ecosystem stability


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