Agriculture

"Climate change threatens to undermine not only how much food can be grown but also the quality of that food as altered weather patterns lead to a less desirable harvest, according to a new study."

"The so-called leaf rust, or roya, is a yellow and orange-colored fungus that has swept coffee fields from Mexico to Peru over the past two years, threatening to stunt production and drive up the price of Latin American roasts."

"Honeybees could be on their way back, according to a new federal report."

"Depletion of groundwater in California's Central Valley for agriculture and other uses could be contributing to an increase in small earthquakes along the famed San Andreas fault, a scientific study published on Wednesday said."

"Could pesticides - their use and abuse - increase levels of cancer and birth defects? It is a question asked across the vast belt of Argentina where GM crops are grown. In Chaco, the Minister of Public Health wants an independent commission to investigate a growing health crisis."

"U.S. children working in domestic tobacco fields regularly suffer from breathing problems, nausea and other ailments, an international rights group said in a report on Wednesday, urging the industry to develop tougher protections for its youngest workers."

"Sewage sludge used as fertilizer on farms can leave traces of prescription drugs and household chemicals deep in the soil, according to a new study by federal scientists."

"Pesticides are directly responsible for a massive decline in the bee population in North America and Europe, a new study out of Harvard University says."

"The increased concentration of carbon dioxide that comes with climate change could mean some basic food plants will carry lower concentrations of iron and zinc – and deficiencies of those nutrients are already a “substantial global public health problem,” scientists reported Wednesday."

"Seemingly unrelenting winds and drought conditions have whipped up massive dust storms this week across the High Plains, but respite is near since the weather system that's to blame has moved east into the Great Lakes and Northeast, the National Weather Service said Wednesday."