Agriculture

"More than half of the rainforest could turn into savanna — threatening wildlife, shifting weather patterns and fueling climate change".

"All three officials have played a significant role in pressuring scientists to dismiss the risks posed by products the EPA is assessing, according to whistleblowers."

"Federal regulators on Friday issued a draft environmental impact statement saying there were significant benefits to a plan to demolish four massive dams on Northern California’s Klamath River to save imperiled migratory salmon, setting the stage for the largest dam demolition project in U.S. history."

"Habitat loss, pesticides and climate change are threatening insect populations worldwide. In 2019, Biological Conservation reported that 40% of all insects species are declining globally and that a third of them are endangered."

"Long home to industrial hog facilities, North Carolina has seen a huge increase in large-scale poultry farms, with more than 1,000 added in 2020 alone. The state scarcely regulates the poultry industry and its waste, which threatens waters in low-wealth communities of color."

"The federal government said Wednesday it won’t deliver any water to California farmers because of a severe drought, a decision that will force many to plant fewer crops in a region that supplies a quarter of the nation’s food."

"For a few frenzied weeks, beekeepers from around the United States truck billions of honeybees to California to rent them to almond growers who need the insects to pollinate the state's most valuable crop."

"Already diminished by drought and extreme heat, California’s water supply will face yet another peril as wildfires continue to incinerate ever larger areas of forested land, according to new research."

"Drought and a decade of war have brought failing crops and poverty to a region once known as Syria’s breadbasket. Even the bread has changed."

"Lawsuits from white farmers have blocked $4 billion of pandemic aid that was allocated to Black farmers in the American Rescue Plan."

"WASHINGTON — For Brandon Smith, a fourth-generation cattle rancher from Texas, the $1.9 trillion stimulus package that President Biden signed into law nearly a year ago was long-awaited relief.

Little did he know how much longer he would have to wait.