Thursday, 20 Feb 2003

The Hunger! The Hunger!

The world's population is growing, yet world hunger is on the wane -- a testament to the success of agriculture. But with the global population expected to increase 50 percent by mid-century, many doubt whether our current food system can continue to provide. The problem isn't the ability to keep producing more food; the problem is the potentially serious ecological consequences of doing so. The last agricultural revolution, begun three centuries ago, resulted in the deforestation of much of the Earth and the cultivation of nearly a third of the planet's land surface; it also resulted in polluted water from fertilizers and pesticides, increased pest resistance, and poor soil quality. The "next green revolution" can't rely wholly on organic farming, which won't produce enough to feed the world -- and biotechnology, the only other option currently available, has raised grave fears in the minds of many.

Wheels of Misfortune

Sport utility vehicles have gotten a lot of bad press of late, what with Arianna Huffington's ad campaign and the U.S. EPA's recently released, SUV-unfriendly ranking of vehicles by tailpipe emissions. But no one has gone farther to make the case against SUVs than Keith Bradsher, former Detroit bureau chief for the New York Times and author of "High and Mighty: SUVs -- The World's Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got That Way." Reviewer Lizzie Grossman assesses the results, only on the Grist Magazine website.

No Kidding

Combating environmental hazards has helped improve children's health, according to a new report by the White House and the U.S. EPA. The report, which is scheduled to be released shortly, found that childhood lead poisoning and children's exposure to second-hand smoke have both declined, largely due to targeted campaigns. However, the remaining cases of lead poisoning disproportionately affect poor and minority children. The report does not make policy or funding recommendations, but it does suggest the need for further investigation of the relationship between mercury exposure and child development, and of childhood asthma rates, which are on the rise even though air quality has been improving for 15 years.

Stone Cold Killer

The massive storm that dumped feet of snow on the Northeast over the weekend was lovely to look at, fun to play in -- and bad news for some river species. In an effort to unbury themselves, many cities in the region dumped plowed snow directly into nearby rivers, a practice some scientists warn could harm stone flies, a delicate insect species near the bottom of the food chain. The flies, which help break down organic matter and are eaten by trout and other large fish, are just beginning to emerge at this time of year and are highly sensitive to water quality. As a result, stone fly populations could be devastated by the increased salinity resulting from the dumped snow, which contains substantial quantities of the salt used as a melting agent on roadways. Pennsylvania and West Virginia have no rules against dumping plowed snow in waterways; New Jersey and Massachusetts do, but both state suspended their rules in the aftermath of the storm.

Gorging Themselves

China's controversial Three Gorges dam looks like small potatoes next to the country's latest proposed water project, a gargantuan network of dams and canals designed to divert water from the south to thirsty northern cities such as Beijing. The project would cost $60 billion over 50 years (twice as much as Three Gorges) and would displace at least 320,000 people. The diverted water would come from sources in the heart of China's industrial region, including the highly polluted Yangtze River. Chinese officials claim the plan would actually aid the environment by easing water shortages in the north, which have led to overuse of groundwater and surface water, destruction of wetlands, and serious pollution. But environmentalists disagree, and plan to target banks and lending agencies to discourage them from financing the project.