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Between 20 to 50 per cent of irrigated soils in all continents have grown too salty to be fully fertile, creating significant challenges for more than 1.5 billion people trying to grow their own food. The information is part of the Global Map of Salt-Affected Soils, a new tool launched this Wednesday by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). These soils are…

20/10/2021 Rome - The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today launched the Global Map of Salt-Affected Soils, a key tool for halting salinization and boosting productivity. The map estimates that there are more than 833 million hectares of salt-affected soils around the globe (8.7% of the planet). Most of them can be found in naturally arid or semi-arid environments in…

New research finds that 25% of Europe’s peatlands are degraded, increasing to 50% -120,000km2- when looking at the European Union alone. In more than half of Europe’s natural peatland (mire) regions, the Convention on Biological Diversity 2020 target for at least 17% of areas to be protected has not yet been met for peatlands. Scientists from the Greifswald Mire Centre, the UN…

By Gordon Corera Security correspondent Climate change will lead to growing international tensions, the US intelligence community has warned in a bleak assessment. The first ever National Intelligence Estimate on Climate Change looks at the impact of climate on national security through to 2040. Countries will argue over how to respond and the effects…

Half of the world's land is used to grow our food. A new generation of 'carbon farmers' are making their land absorb greenhouse gases, rather than emitting them. ow lying and layered with clay, the soils of Molescroft Farm in East Yorkshire have never been the easiest to cultivate. Driven by ever-dwindling productivity, the land was pushed to its limits for decades – more passes with machinery,…

Ahead of the COP26 climate summit, the IAEA has released Nuclear Energy for a Net Zero World. The special report highlights nuclear power’s critical role in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development by displacing coal and other fossil fuels, enabling the further deployment of renewable energy and becoming an economical source for large amounts of clean…