Food, Agriculture and Water

Droughts and extreme flooding have devastating effects in India’s rice-growing areas. New research shows that female farmers are using their ancestral knowledge and promoting a culture of sharing to help their crops adapt to climate change while keeping their families alive.

Groundwater managers have a difficult time getting a sense of how much water farmers and urban water users extract from aquifers. Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) is a satellite technology that uses microwaves to generate data that researchers use to build Earth gravity models. The models produced from GRACE data help water managers know how much water farmers and urban water planners have withdrawn from the ground. This helps communities manage their groundwater resources sustainably.

In the United States alone, beef production accounts for twenty percent of greenhouse gas emissions and it is the least efficient source of protein production. Americans will continue to eat beef; so designing a sustainable industry is essential to reducing emissions. In a new study, scientists explore two straightforward ways to achieve a sustainable industry – all without sacrificing your cheeseburgers.

Humans have long looked to the ocean for opportunities, sustenance, and growth. Today, advocates of “Blue Growth” aim to foster sustainable economic growth in the marine sector. Absent in the grandiose vision, however, is where our interaction with the ocean first began: fishing. Global fisheries production has stagnated: ecology is fragile, regulations are strict, and fish prices are low. So, what is the future for marine fisheries? What will be its role in Blue Growth?