China on course for record harvest in boost for food security drive

China on course for record harvest in boost for food security drive

China is on track for a record grain output this year in a boost for its drive to improve food security. The harvest is expected to exceed 700 million tonnes for the first time this year, after nine straight years of production above 650 million tonnes, agriculture vice-minister Zhang Xingwang said on Friday. At almost … Read more

How extreme weather affects food prices in Canada

How extreme weather affects food prices in Canada

Extreme weather events like fires, floods, heat waves and droughts pose an increasing risk to Canada’s food supply chain, putting pressure on prices all the way to the grocery store shelf, say experts. “Anytime you have major weather-related events, it tends to increase costs,” said Frank Scali, vice-president of industry affairs at Food, Health & … Read more

Dubai deluge likely made worse by warming world, scientists find

Dubai deluge likely made worse by warming world, scientists find

A powerful rainstorm that wreaked havoc on the desert nation of the United Arab Emirates last week was likely made more intense because of climate change, a team of international scientists has found. The World Weather Attribution (WWA) group, composed of researchers from around the globe, said rain storms like the one that struck last … Read more

How technology is helping grain farmers adapt to weather woes

How technology is helping grain farmers adapt to weather woes

British Columbia grain farmer Malcolm Odermatt says all he can do is pray for rain this spring after repeated droughts sabotaged his harvest last year. Odermatt, who is also the president of the B.C. Grain Growers Association, has been working with his father since 2012 to farm about 2,000 acres of land in the Peace … Read more

2023 was the hottest year on record — by a long shot

2023 was the hottest year on record — by a long shot

After a year of record-breaking wildfires across Canada and the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth, it likely comes as no surprise that 2023 was the hottest year on record. According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), 2023 was 1.48 C warmer than the pre-industrial average from 1850–1900, beating out 2016’s record … Read more

How artificial intelligence can help beavers fight floods, droughts and wildfires

How artificial intelligence can help beavers fight floods, droughts and wildfires

A few years ago, a couple of Google employees reached out to a Minnesota scientist with an unusual proposal: What if they could teach computers to spot beaver habitats from space?  “They wanted to know if I thought it was possible to find beaver wetlands from aerial imagery myself, and then if that could be … Read more