Food and agriculture contribute one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions – second only to the burning of fossil fuels. And yet the vast majority of media coverage of the climate crisis overlooks this critical sector, according to a new data analysis from Sentient Media.

The findings suggest that only about a quarter of climate articles in 11 major US outlets, including the Guardian, mention food and agriculture as a cause. And of the 940 articles analyzed, only 36 – or 3.8% – mentioned animal agriculture or meat production, by far the largest source of food-related emissions.

The data reveals a media environment that obscures a key driver of the climate crisis. Meat production alone is responsible for nearly 60% of the food sector’s climate emissions and yet its impact is sorely underestimated: a 2023 Washington Post/University of Maryland poll found 74% of US respondents believe eating less meat has little to no effect on the climate crisis.

Bloc urged to end ‘unethical double standard’ of allowing sale of products deemed too dangerous for EU farms

For five years, Iran has been struggling with a drought that, experts agree, has been made far more severe by climate change. Steadily dropping levels of rainfall – a sweltering Tehran had only 158mm of rainfall last year, 42% less than the long term average – have combined with excessive consumption, particularly in agriculture, plus mass unauthorised extraction of groundwater and a fondness for prestigious but faulty engineering projects.

The water is running frighteningly low and this summer no fewer than 19 of Iran’s dams had only between 3% and 15% of their water left. The capital’s three dams – Lar, Malu and Amir Kabir – were at critical levels by September, but appeals to the citizens of Tehran to cut their water consumption by 25% have not yet worked, so now there are plans to halt all construction work in the city for two years. Iran is now on the brink of the taps running dry.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/27733622

More than 100,000 people marched through Cuenca, a city in southern Ecuador, on Sept. 16, demanding that federal authorities revoke an environmental license for a gold mining project that may impact an important freshwater source.

The Loma Larga mining project, run by Canadian mining company Dundee Precious Metals, borders the 3,200-hectare (7,900-acre) Quimsacocha National Recreation Area, located within the UNESCO Macizo del Cajas Biosphere Reserve. Quimsacocha is a central source of clean freshwater in the Andean páramo tundra located approximately 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) southeast of Cuenca.

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cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/27699157

New satellite analysis shows that wells and roads for a project in Uganda feeding Africa’s longest heated oil pipeline have progressed significantly within a protected area and near a critical wetland.

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At the northern tip of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where rugged cliffs jut out toward Lake Superior, Keweenaw County is known for its rich biodiversity and opportunities for outdoor recreation. One of the region’s most remarkable qualities, though, is its darkness.

Far from large city centers, the county has embraced its lack of light pollution, or excessive artificial light that bleeds into outdoor spaces.

This weekend, a new event—the Great Lakes Aurora Dark Sky Jamboree (GLAD JAM)—welcomes visitors to the park to stargaze while learning more about the dark sky movement and its campaign to end light pollution for the health of humans and wildlife alike.

The region’s first “Dark Sky Park” was designated in 2022. The dark sky movement has been supported by a growing body of research suggesting light pollution can disrupt the migration patterns and circadian rhythms of animals, putting fragile ecosystems around the world at risk.

• Numerous villages in Indonesia’s Halmahera Island face extensive compulsory purchase actions for farming land by mining companies with extraction permits issued by the government.
• One farmer said he faced sustained pressure from local authorities to accept offers of $1.22 per square meter of land, which did not account for the recurring revenues earned from multiple coconut harvests per year.
• The South Wasile’s police chief sent an emphatic denial to Mongabay Indonesia when asked whether local police were involved in company efforts to persuade farmers to sign contracts of sale.
• Mongabay has reported this year from Halmahera on a rise in respiratory disease and high levels of mercury present in blood samples in communities living alongside Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP), the giant nickel smelting center on Halmahera.

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To all the challenges the solar industry is facing today, add one more: cultivating a domestic market for lamb meat. It may seem an unlikely mission for clean-energy developers, but in many states, including Illinois, grazing sheep between rows of photovoltaic panels is considered the most efficient form of agrivoltaics — the combination of solar and farming on the same land.

Solar advocates, researchers, and developers have given much attention to agrivoltaics. The practice includes growing crops like blueberries, tomatoes, or peppers in the shade of solar panels and letting cows or sheep graze around the arrays.

Perhaps the biggest benefit of agrivoltaics is that land is not being taken out of agricultural production in favor of clean energy, a concern that has stoked intense opposition to solar. The Trump administration codified this sentiment when the head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Aug. 19 that the agency ​“will no longer fund taxpayer dollars for solar panels on productive farmland.”

Illinois’ sprawling fields of corn and soybeans don’t coexist well with solar panels, but sheep do, making grazing a promising type of agrivoltaics for the state, proponents say.

As Spain takes a breath after yet another brutal summer heatwave, with temperatures above 40C in many parts of the country, the residents of the sherry-making town of Jerez de la Frontera have come up with a novel way to keep the streets cool.

Green canopies of grapevines festoon the town, reducing street-level temperatures by as much as 8C. “We’re planting vines in the old city because we hope that in two or three years we’ll be able to brag that this has put an end to stifling temperatures,” said Jesús Rodríguez, president of Los Emparrados, a group of residents who aim to beautify and green the city’s streets.

For decades the local sherry producers have kept their wineries cool with emparrados (vine arbours) but now the practice has been extended to a cluster of streets in the old town.

Not only are vines part of the essence of Jerez, they also have several advantages over trees. They need to be watered only in the first two years and they are deciduous, letting in the winter sun between November and March. Within three years of planting they will form a complete canopy over a narrow street.

Just a single vine stem growing up the side of a house can offer a lot of shade. In the sherry houses, where this has been the practice for more than 60 years, the leaves from a single vine form a canopy of 60 sq metres.

The variety chosen is Vitis riparia, cultivated to produce few grapes, avoiding streets made sticky by fallen fruit.

On a patch of paddock in West Gippsland stands a small forest, which wasn’t there before.

Flowering gums and she-oaks reach up nine metres tall, birds nest in their branches, while a giant tiger snake slides through the grass below.

All it took was one day of “bloody hard” work.

About four years ago the Australian film-maker and outdoorsman Beau Miles set out to plant 1,440 trees and shrubs in 24 hours – enough to turn a blanket of rolling Victorian hills back into bush.

Miles decided he was done with the kind of modern-day adventures that burned through money and carbon, delivering little in the way of tangible outcomes except for photos and a great story. Instead, he says, he began looking for physical challenges that offer more “bang-for-buck”.

Story includes a YouTube video.