(ANTIMEDIA) Trade organizations in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu are boycotting Coca-Cola and Pepsi amid concerns the two companies are using excessive amounts of water to produce their products.
Drought status in the U.S. as of 2015. Note the color-coded legend in the lower-right portion of the graphic (source; click to enlarge) by Gaius PubliusI've written in the past about two of the most climate-vulnerable regions of the U.S., Florida and the American Southwest.
Majestic monarch butterflies cover the fir trees in the forests of Central Mexico every winter, but fewer of them have been calling these woods home, thanks mostly to humanity’s destruction of their natural environment. [1]
The number of monarchs have been dwindling for 2 decades, but the situation seems to have reached a tipping point this year.
Karen Oberhauser, co-chairwoman of Monarch Joint Venture, a national collaboration of 50 conservation, education and research groups, confirmed it, saying:
Calls have come from all over the world to boycott Nestlé after the company bought a drought-stricken Canadian community’s water supply, and more than 150,000 Facebook users have taken to the social media site to voice their outrage. [1]
Dear Friends,
Greetings from the state of Aragua in Venezuela where we are concluding a small US delegation focused on grassroots solutions to the massive food crisis here.
I am reaching out to you to share my grave concerns about what is happening here in Venezuela, my home for over three decades where I worked for 21 years as a Maryknoll Catholic lay missioner, then as Latin America Coordinator for the School of the Americas Watch.
In this sedition of ITEOTWAWKIAIFF we look at the growing class unrest in Hong Kong that kicked off a massive rebellion in the lunar new year. Also street battles in Athens, where anarchists and farmers stormed the Greek capital in reaction to Syriza’s structural adjustment policies. On the music break we drop the now classic Dead Prez track: Malcolm Garvey Huey.
A shadow of fear and panic is creeping through villages in North Eastern, central and Southern Ethiopia, where once again famine stalks the land. The seasonal rains that usually fall between June and September did not arrive, and now, with the ‘dry season’ here the already severe situation can only deteriorate.
According to the UN, Ethiopia “is experiencing its worst drought in 30 years.” In some areas the poorest, most vulnerable infants are already dying at a rate of two per day.
Drought-stricken Brazil will probably produce 10% fewer harvests of popular Robusta and Arabica coffee beans over the next year. That, along with a projected increase in global demand means the beans will become increasingly precious, according to the Foreign Agricultural Service’s coffee bean production report.
Coffee lovers, grab a cup of java, a box of tissues, and be prepared to find a support group.
It’s coming.
A global coffee shortage.
