If a Roundup Ready variety of soybeans might cost $65 to $70 a bag, and conventional, non-GMO varieties are $30 to $35 a bag, you would think farmers would be eschewing GMO beans. An agronomist with the Division of Agriculture at the University of Arkansas is planting nine non-GM soybeans on his test plots, four developed by the University. Here’s …
Ice sheet collapse triggered ancient sea level peak
An international team of scientists has found a dramatic ice sheet collapse at the end of the ice age before last caused widespread climate changes and led to a peak in the sea level well above its present height. The team found the events 135,000 years ago caused the planet to warm in a different way to the end of …
CAN THE US HAVE 100% CLEAN ENERGY BY 2050?
Converting the world’s entire energy infrastructure to run on clean, renewable energy could effectively fight ongoing climate change, eliminate air pollution deaths, create jobs, and stabilize energy prices. The challenge is a daunting one. But scientists say it’s possible. Researchers are the first to outline the 50 individual state plans that call for aggressive changes to both infrastructure and the ways …
Big Pharma’s Hidden Hand In Rise of Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs – Sarah Lazare
From the World Health Organization to the National Academy of Sciences, scientists are warning that rising antibiotic resistance poses a public health threat across the world. Now, a new report from consumer advocacy group Sum Of Us examines an often-overlooked factor behind this crisis: the complicity of pharmaceutical giants in the dangerous dumping of drug waste throughout the supply chain. “This is a …
Pillage and Class Polarization: The Rise of “Criminal Capitalism” By Prof. James Petras
About 75% of US employees work 40 hours or longer, the second longest among all OECD countries, exceeded only by Poland and tied with South Korea. In contrast, only 10% of Danish workers, 15% of Norwegian, 30% of French, 43% of UK and 50% of German workers work 40 or more hours. With the longest work day, US workers score …
Obama Admin Will Forgive Up To $3.6 BILLION In Student Loans By Blake Neff
The Department of Education announced Monday that it is implementing a plan to forgive as much as $3.6 billion in student loans given to students attending schools affiliated with the defunct for-profit college chain Corinthian Colleges. Corinthian was once one of the biggest players in for-profit colleges, but abruptly fell apart in 2014 amid accusations that it was inflating graduates’ job placement …
The Era of Dissolution – John Michael Greer
The last of the five phases of the collapse process we’ve been discussing here in recent posts is the era of dissolution. (For those that haven’t been keeping track, the first four are the eras of pretense, impact, response, and breakdown). I suppose you could call the era of dissolution the Rodney Dangerfield of collapse, though it’s not so much …
Boreal peatlands not a global warming time bomb
To some scientists studying climate change, boreal peatlands are considered a potential ticking time bomb. With huge stores of carbon in peat, the fear is that rising global temperatures could cause the release of massive amounts of CO2 from the peatlands into the atmosphere–essentially creating a greenhouse gas feedback loop. A new study by researchers at the University of South …
Barack Obama: No Jack Kennedy By Ray McGovern
Democratic Sen. Lloyd Bentsen’s “you’re no Jack Kennedy” put-down of Republican Sen. Dan Quayle in the 1988 vice presidential debate springs to mind on a day on which I cannot help but compare the character of President Barack Obama to that of John Kennedy, the first President under whom I served in the Army and CIA. On this day 52 years ago, …
California’s Drought Could Upend America’s Entire Food System – Natasha Gelling
On April 1, California Governor Jerry Brown stood in a field in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, beige grass stretching out across an area that should have been covered with five feet of snow. The Sierra’s snowpack — the frozen well that feeds California’s reservoirs and supplies a third of its water — was just eight percent of its yearly average. …