Environment

Agriculture in the climate talks

The climate negotiations in China where countries finished negotiating for six days (October 4–9) wrapped up just over a week ago. This was countries' last chance to reach common ground for major decisions on global warming before the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) holds its 16th conference of the parties (COP 16) in less than two months in Cancún, Mexico.

Climate finance must add up

One of the most contentious issues at the global climate talks taking place this week in Tianjin, China continues to be finance: how to fund efforts to adapt to climate change and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The global financial crisis has made these discussions even more challenging as developed countries like the U.S. struggle with rising deficits.

Farmers’ new normal

Minneapolis, September 29, 2010* — The Minnesota River near Jordan is expected to reach its fifth-highest crest at 32.7 feet on Tuesday. Jordan and much of the rest of southern Minnesota were hit with some 10 inches of rain last week—flooding houses, farm fields, and shutting down highways and bridges.

So what kind of salmon does Uncle Sam want?

It almost seems preposterous to ask this question, but what type of salmon would you prefer to see on your plate: Genetically-modified Atlantic salmon, spliced with Pacific salmon growth gene and modulated by a regulator protein from an Ocean Pout; or Wild Sockeye from the pristine unpolluted waters of Bristol Bay, Alaska.