Large swarms of locusts have laid waste to vast tracts of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, with authorities expecting the plague to worsen as the weather heats up. The locust plague began in the pastureland of the Ili River Valley and Taer Basin in
On April 15 peruvian president Alan García signed a decree allowing the import and planting of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the country. The official decree puts at risk the genetic diversity of the Peruvian Andes, including the tuberous crop we know as
Experts are trying to figure out why thousands of dead walleye fish have been washing up on a roughly 25-mile stretch of Lake Erie between the northern Ohio cities of Toledo and Port Clinton over the past few weeks. The mysterious deaths add to the millions of others
A team of scientists in the United Kingdom and the United States has warned that the native fauna and unique ecology of the Southern Ocean, the vast body of water that surrounds the Antarctic continent, is under threat from human activity. Their study is published
Two small islands in South Asia’s first marine biosphere reserve have sunk into the sea primarily as a result of coral reef mining. The islets were in a group in the Gulf of Mannar, between India and Sri Lanka.The Indo-Pacific region is considered to contain some of
Beekeepers fear an alarming phenomenon that is wiping out bees and leading to reduced food crops around the world has now reached New Zealand. Colony collapse disorder has caused American beekeepers to report losses of up to 90 per cent in some cases, prompting fears
Global warming is taking its toll on our food, according to the first study to demonstrate a link between global crop yields and climate change. It concludes that the steep rise in temperatures since 1980 has cut into yields of staple crops, offsetting gains from
Researchers find that plants in East Africa with promising antimalarial qualities – ones that have treated malaria symptoms in the region’s communities for hundreds of years – are at risk of extinction. Scientists fear that these natural remedial qualities, and
Thousands of hectares of tropical dry forests in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais are now safe from logging, thanks to scientists affiliated with a project called Tropi-Dry. Using information from Tropi-Dry, the members of the Superior Court of Minas Gerais
Farming of crops like cocoa, cassava and oil palm has resulted in widespread deforestation and degradation of West Africa’s tropical forest area, a study says. Cocoa production in West Africa is an important economic activity and a source of income for about 2
