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Study shows cooler Pacific slowed global warming, briefly
Oslo | Reuters — A natural cooling of the Pacific Ocean has contributed to slow global warming in the past decade but the pause is unlikely to last much longer, U.S. scientists said on Thursday. The slowdown in the rate of rising temperatures, from faster gains in the 1980s and 1990s, has puzzled scientists because

Swedish Merlot, anyone? Warmer world boosts Nordic tipples
Vineyards are where people expect polar bears, grower says
On one of the world’s northernmost frontiers, grapevines are growing on hillsides and talk among farmers is about “terroir” and “aroma” as global warming and new technology push the boundaries of wine growing. “Maybe a touch of raspberry?” opined Wenche Hvattum, one of two farmers at the Lerkekasa vineyard west of Oslo — on the
El Nino weather hits many crops, boosts soybeans: study
Oslo | Reuters — The El Nino weather phenomenon that is likely to strike this year damages world maize, rice and wheat yields but boosts soybeans, according to a study on Thursday that could help farmers plan what to grow. The Japanese-led report gave what it called a first global set of maps linking yields
Wild weather puts climate back on global agenda
Kerry says climate change a ‘weapon of mass destruction’
Bitter cold in the United States might appear to contradict the notion of global warming, but with Britain’s wettest winter and Australia’s hottest summer, extreme weather events have pushed climate change back on the political agenda. A spluttering world economy had sapped political interest in the billion-dollar shifts from fossil fuels that scientists say are
Global warming, trade helps crop pests spread
Crop-damaging pests are moving towards the Poles at a rate of more than 25 km (16 miles) a decade, aided by global warming and human transport, posing a potential threat to world food security, a new study shows. The spread of beetles, moths, bacteria, worms, fungi and other pests in a warming world may be
Decline in biodiversity of farmed plants, animals gathering pace
A decline in the diversity of farmed plants and livestock breeds is gathering pace, threatening future food supplies for the world’s growing population, the head of a new United Nations panel on biodiversity said Monday. Preserving neglected animal breeds and plants was necessary as they could have genes resistant to future diseases or to shifts
Foreign demand for beef, soybeans adds pressure on Amazon forest
A study links consumers to environmental impact on Brazil, saying foreign demand accounts for 30 per cent of deforestation
Reuters / Rising foreign demand for beef and soybeans will tempt Brazil to clear more of the Amazon rainforest, in a reversal of recent success in slowing forest losses, a study said April 4. About 30 per cent of deforestation in Brazil in the decade to 2010 was due to farmers and ranchers seeking landWorld seed banks get secure funding to protect the genetic diversity of food crops
Scientists have agreed on a $109-million plan to strengthen the world’s biggest seed banks of crops such as rice and wheat to help protect and develop new varieties resistant to climate change and other threats. The Global Crop Diversity Trust and the CGIAR Consortium of agricultural researchers said on Jan. 31 that a five-year plan
Farmland area can decline, says new study
The amount of land needed to grow crops worldwide is at a peak, and a geographical area more than twice the size of France will be able to return to its natural state by 2060 as a result of rising yields and slower population growth, a group of experts said Dec. 17. Their report, conflicting
‘Peak farmland’ is here, crop area seen diminishing
The amount of land needed to grow crops worldwide is at a peak, and a geographical area more than twice the size of France will be able to return to its natural state by 2060 as a result of rising yields and slower population growth, a group of experts said on Monday. Their report, conflicting
With roots going back to 1925, each weekly issue of the Manitoba Co-operator contains production, marketing and policy news selected for relevance to crops and livestock producers in Manitoba.