Wind farm ‘mega-project’ underway in Mojave Desert
The Alta Wind Energy Center “” with plans for thousands of acres of turbines to generate electricity for 600,000 Southern California homes “” officially breaks ground Tuesday. It’s being called the largest wind power project in the country, with plans for thousands of acres of towering turbines in the Mojave Desert foothills generating electricity for 600,000 homes in Southern California.
And now it’s finally kicking into gear.
The project will probably be a wind power bellwether, affecting the way renewable energy deals are financed, the development of new electricity storage systems and how governments regulate the industry, said Billy Gamboa, a renewable energy analyst with the California Center for Sustainable Energy.
“It’s a super-mega-project “” it’ll definitely set a precedent for the rest of the state and have a pretty large impact on the wind industry in general,” he said.
The project’s developer, New York-based Terra-Gen Power, plans to coax three gigawatts of power from the wind farm over the next eight years. It has led some industry experts to predict that California might have a shot at reclaiming the wind energy crown from competitors such as Texas and Iowa.
“Alta’s an absolutely enormous project in probably the most promising wind resource area that remains in the state,” said Ryan Wiser, a renewable energy analyst at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “It’s the single biggest investment in California wind project assets in decades and is likely the largest the state is ever going to see.”
Southern California Edison agreed in 2006 to buy 1,550 megawatts of electricity from Alta over 25 years, one of the heftiest power purchase agreements ever signed. That would be enough energy to serve 275,000 homes and is twice the capacity of the country’s largest existing wind farm, a 735-megawatt project in Texas.
For Hybrid Cars, a Hybrid Invention
A company with a different approach to the electric car battery problem got a small boost recently when the Patent Office said it would issue a patent on its concept: using a storage device called a capacitor in conjunction with a traditional battery.
The company, AFS Trinity, plans an announcement on Monday.
Capacitors store only small amounts of electricity, but they can accept it or deliver it very quickly without damaging themselves. By contrast, lithium ion batteries, the kind now favored for cars, can store large amounts but have trouble delivering it fast enough to allow good acceleration. What is more, they don’t capture energy very well, a problem in electric cars. Electric cars are designed so that when a driver hits the brake pedal, the electric motors switch functions and become generators, converting momentum back into current. But the current flows very fast.
Global Warming Means More Mexican Immigration?
Disputes over illegal Mexican immigrants are already heating up in the United States, thanks in part to a new Arizona immigration law.
But global warming could bring the immigration issue to a boiling point in the coming decades, if a new study holds true.
According a new computer model, a total of nearly seven million additional Mexicans could emigrate to the U.S. by 2080 as a result of reduced crop yields brought about by a hotter, drier climate””assuming other factors influencing immigration remain unchanged.
Bikes and Cars: A Lesson in Los Angeles
Attending the Copenhagen climate conference last December, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles had a revelation: his own city needed to do more to promote bicycling as a clean form of transportation.
“I’ll tell you what I came away with: that in the area of bicycling, I’ve got to do a better job and the city’s got to do a better job,” Mr. Villaraigosa told Southern California Public Radio.
Last weekend, however, the mayor learned a tough lesson about urban cycling firsthand: cars and bikes don’t mix.
On Saturday evening, Mr. Villaraigosa hopped on a bike for a quick ride down to the beach. While he was riding in the bike lane on Venice Boulevard, a taxi abruptly pulled out in front of him. He swerved, fell off the bike and broke his elbow.
Common climate in Canberra and Washington
Turn the clock back four years, and you could not have slipped a cigarette paper between the climate policies of the administrations in Washington DC and Canberra.
With the election of Kevin Rudd in December 2007, paths diverged.
Against the backdrop of opinion polls showing climate change as a major concern for Australians, Mr Rudd’s Labor government ratified the Kyoto Protocol, unveiled new targets for cutting carbon emissions and announced that a new emissions trading scheme (ETS) would be the principal vehicle for reaching those targets.
A year later, Barack Obama entered the Washington White House, talking a positive game on the issue but making clear his desire or even his need for legislation to proceed through both Houses of Congress, and maintaining his opposition to re-entering the Kyoto fold.
Now, there’s a case for arguing that the old days are back, and that Canberra and Washington are once again in step.
White bark pine forests are in trouble all across Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. Great swaths of trees are dead or dying after being attacked by the mountain pine beetle and a disease called white pine blister rust. The forests used to be protected by harsh winters and cool summers. But warmer winters and summers have allowed the beetle to breed more quickly and to move to the higher elevations favored by white bark pines.
Last summer, pilots working with the United States Forest Service and the Natural Resources Defense Council made low-level flights over 25 million acres of forest, trying to gauge how much damage has been done. The results, released this month, are devastating. Just over half the white bark pine forests are dead; one-fourth have medium to high mortality; few forests have escaped some damage.
The wider ecological effects could be serious. These forests slow the rate of spring snowmelt; without them, the spring runoff will happen faster and streams and rivers will see reduced flow and higher temperatures later in the season. The loss of the pines also threatens the symbiotic relation between the Clark’s nutcracker and the pines, which depend on the bird for reseeding, as well as red squirrels, which gather pine nuts.
Dems press Reid to put renewable power standard in energy bill
Nearly half the Senate’s Democrats are pressuring Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to include a national renewable electricity mandate in the slimmed-down energy bill expected on the floor this week.
But they face an uphill battle “” Reid argued over the weekend that a renewables mandate won’t fly in the Senate.
Previous in TP Climate Progress
Language Intelligence: Lessons on persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga
The Next BP Blow Up: A $9.9 Billion Tax Credit http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2010/07/27/the-next-bp-blow-up-a-99-billion-tax-credit/
Remarks by the President After Bipartisan Leadership Meeting
We also talked about the need to move forward on energy reform. The Senate is now poised to act before the August recess, advancing legislation to respond to the BP oil spill and create new clean energy jobs.
That legislation is an important step in the right direction. But I want to emphasize it’s only the first step. And I intend to keep pushing for broader reform, including climate legislation, because if we’ve learned anything from the tragedy in the Gulf, it’s that our current energy policy is unsustainable.
And we can’t afford to stand by as our dependence on foreign oil deepens, as we keep on pumping out the deadly pollutants that threaten our air and our water and the lives and livelihoods of our people. And we can’t stand by as we let China race ahead to create the clean energy jobs and industries of the future. We should be developing those renewable energy sources, and creating those high-wage, high-skill jobs right here in the United States of America.
That’s what comprehensive energy and climate reform would do. And that’s why I intend to keep pushing this issue forward. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-after-bipartisan-leadership-meeting
“Momentum for Senate filibuster reform builds”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/26/momentum-for-senate-filib_n_659821.html : “Last week at the Netroots Nation political conference, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) gathered environmental writers to discuss energy legislation; the first few questions were related to energy, the rest of the conversation was dominated by the filibuster.”
10mw windmill…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1297713/Giant-offshore-wind-farm-mimics-sycamore-seed-joins-race-develop-generation-turbine.html
The fight against the ocean continues
The U.S. Coast Guard dispatched emergency teams Tuesday after a boat crashed into an oil well off the coast of New Orleans, reportedly sending crude spewing some 20 feet into the air. http://www.grist.org/article/2010-07-27-u.s.-scrambles-emergency-teams-to-new-gulf-oil-leak/
In Arctic, scientists see dire effect of ocean acidification http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/In_Arctic_scientists_see_dire_effect_of_ocean_acidification_999.html
Fiorina backed by coal-mining firms
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina has received about $63,000 in donations this year from Appalachian coal-mining interests, much of the money from an outspoken Ohio mine owner who dismisses global warming as “hysterical global goofiness.” http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/27/MNUA1EK2FC.DTL
Defusing the Population Bomb
Pearce says birth rates today are much lower than in the last century, and after a few decades, our numbers will likely fall and then stabilize. He documents how women from all over the world – rich and poor alike – are choosing to have fewer children.
Pearce also contends that population growth isn’t the root cause of today’s environmental ills. The current growth in population is occurring in poorer countries, which consume relatively little of the earth’s resources.
http://www.world-science.org/forum/population-consumption-bomb-crash-fred-pearce/#comment-5061
Poorer People = More Child birth
The fight against Mountains continues …
Corps issues EPA-approved mine permit in Logan http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2010/07/27/corps-issues-epa-approved-mine-permit-in-logan/
Court Derails New York’s Taxi Transition
City Room reports that a federal appeals court has rejected the Bloomberg administration’s effort to require the city’s taxicab owners to switch to hybrid vehicles. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/court-derails-new-yorks-hybrid-taxi-transition/
Disputed chemical bisphenol-A found in paper receipts http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/26/AR2010072605001.html
Notes on Climate Change
In response to my column yesterday, David Leonhardt offers two good reasons to think that climate change isn’t going to be a replay of the great overpopulation and resource-scarcity debates of the 1960s and 1970s, in which optimists like Julian Simon were ultimately vindicated and doomsayers like Paul “The Population Bomb” Ehrlich were proven wrong
http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/notes-on-climate-change/
Billionaire polluter David Koch: Global warming is good for you
In a recently published New York Magazine profile, pollution billionaire David Koch lies about his support for tea-party radicalism, cracks racist jokes, and denies the threat of global warming. http://www.grist.org/article/2010-07-27-billionaire-polluter-david-koch-global-warming-is-good-for-you/
The climate deficit
How hot was it? Apparently not hot enough.
On Thursday, Senate Democratic leaders announced they were abandoning efforts to pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation before the August recess – which means the bill probably is dead until after the mid-term elections in November.
The ramifications of that failure will linger for years to come. While China is gearing up to make record investments in clean energy, the United States is going nowhere. http://www.kansascity.com/2010/07/27/2110039/the-climate-deficit.html
Report: U.S. energy policy a “serious threat” to economic, national security
The country’s energy policy – particularly on climate change – poses a “serious threat” to economic and national security, a new report finds, but one group says that threat can be turned into an opportunity.
The report, released Tuesday by the nonprofit research firm CNA, says the predicted effects of climate change “have the potential to disrupt our way of life” and “create sustained natural and humanitarian disasters on a scale far beyond those we see today.” That, in turn, will likely foster political instability both at home and abroad. http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/111185-report-us-energy-policy-a-qserious-threatq-to-economic-national-security
But, but David Koch says Global Warming is good!
Carbon Emissions Threaten Fish Populations
Humanity’s rising carbon dioxide emissions could have a significant impact on the world’s fish populations, according to groundbreaking new research carried out in Australia. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100707091211.htm
Dirty Power: Attack on Clean Air Protections Planned in Senate
NRDC has obtained a copy of amendments that Senator Voinovich (R-OH) appears poised to lodge next week in the Senate Environment Committee to wage a sweeping attack on the Clean Air Act on behalf of dirty power plants. The amendments repeal, delay and significantly weaken clean air safeguards that reduce power plant emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide (pollutants that cause smog and soot), as well as toxic mercury, arsenic, lead, hydrogen cyanide and other acid gases. http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/jwalke/dirty_power_explosive_attack_o.html
The oil spill’s toxic trade-off http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_shaw_the_oil_spill_s_toxic_trade_off.html
#12 Was Paul Ehrlich wrong? First, in “The Population Bomb” he did say that there were promising agricultural developments that could help expand agricultural productivity. Those developments did come to pass, and have helped insure that we have not yet experienced severe crisis. However, it is not at all clear that those developments are sustainable–they rely on heavy inputs of both water and petrochemicals, in addition to leading to degradation of land being extensively farmed. Have we merely postponed the crises, possibly leading to an even larger die off than he originally envisioned? Consider also that the bulk of global deforestation as well as overfishing of the ocean has occurred in the last 30 or so years–this seems at least to be partially a result of population pressure.
In #8 Prokaryotes also references Pearce (Fred?) saying that population is not the immediate cause of our current problems–at least partially because population growth is occurring in poorer countries. The population of the US has doubled since 1950–and the US has not usually been considered a poor country–the world population has increased by a factor of 2.66 since 1950–only a third more than the US. My guess is that if the US population had stabilized at it’s 1970 level of 205 million and the world population had stabilized at it’s 1970 level of 3.7 billion that we would be much better off. As it is, Paul Ehrlich may just have been a bit early in his projections–it’s small comfort if the crises comes in 2080 instead of 1980–after all, even in terms of human civilization, 100 years is a very small time span, and of course in geological terms, it is an instant.
“promising agricultural developments”
It turns out that genetical modified plants, beside negative long term health impacts, have also lower yields.
“The most notable and problematic (effect) is the tendency of drought-tolerant GM lines to not perform as well under favourable conditions. This appears to be the case for CIMMYT’s GM wheat and Monsanto’s GM corn. The flaw is a profound one. http://www.grist.org/article/Food-security-and-global-warming-Monsanto-versus-organic
Do GM Crops Increase Yield? The Answer is No
Monsanto’s claim that GM crops increase yields is fundamentally flawed and misleading. http://www.stwr.org/food-security-agriculture/do-gm-crops-increase-yield-the-answer-is-no.html
“Contrary to industry’s claims, [the] RR soyabean requires more, not less, herbicide than [a] conventional soyabean.” His research reveals RR soyabean crops to produce 5 per cent to 10 per cent less yield per acre as against other identical varieties grown under similar soil conditions. http://www.climatechangecorp.com/content.asp?ContentID=5157
Pete Riley at GM Freeze, an alliance of UK organisations against GM technologies, dismisses the possibility of drought-resistant crops, calling it a “load of rubbish”. He says: “If it doesn’t rain, the seed doesn’t germinate. If, by some miracle that seeds do germinate in dry conditions, it has nothing to do with the GM trait, but will be because of the parent plant.”
Neither Monsanto nor Bayer LifeSciences was willing to provide any documentation to support their claims to drought-resistant crop strains. Nor were BIO and EuropaBio forthcoming with any evidence substantiating drought resistance in crops. http://www.climatechangecorp.com/content.asp?ContentID=5157
The Solution is BECCS & Biochar and advanced Algae Fuel production processes with low carbon footprint.
The biochar offsets global greenhouse gasses and provides the nutrition to create crop yields up to 1000%. During drought the molecular cell structure of biochar helps plants to survive extended drought condition. With the basis of food production the countries adopting biochar will gain and have less child birth when grown out of poverty.
It’s simple and a win win situation for everybody. We just need to help “them” to help “us” remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere with biochar production.
#13, 20
One reason the world’s population has not grown as much as expected is China’s one child policy. Still, the world’s population continues to grow and resource consumption is intensified, and this is a problem.
BTW, the Ross Douthat column, The Right and the Climate, from which The Population Bomb reference came,
was ignorant, irresponsible, and shameful.
Philip, i call this progressive and emission trading is a scheme for fraud – we need a carbon tax.
“Global warming is a reality, and more of a problem than many conservatives want to allow. But I haven’t seen a convincing case that a bill like Waxman-Markey represents anything like a solution.” http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/notes-on-climate-change/
Mich. oil spill among largest in Midwest history
More than 800,000 gallons of oil flow into Kalamazoo River, coating birds and fish http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38435210/ns/us_news-environment/
Need to convince lotsa people that a fossil carbon tas is a Good Thing.
re: Bikes and Cars: A Lesson in Los Angeles
Transportation systems based on cars maintain local monopolies by being dangerous to much more practical mobility solutions.
Investments in Renewable Energy Top Fossil-Fuel Projects
National renewable-energy policies encourage investments, reports say http://www.america.gov/st/energy-english/2010/July/20100726122734lcnirellep0.290188.html
Welcome to Science 2.0 http://www.science3point0.com/
Open Innovation in the Science and Technology Community http://science.dodlive.mil/2010/07/26/open-innovation-in-science-and-technology/
New Study: IT Sector Cut Annual CO2 Emissions by 32 Million Metric Tons
Global industry coalition adds networking sector to its energy efficiency mission http://www.climatesaverscomputing.org/news/press-releases/july-27-2010
Solar power at a tipping point – now cheaper than nuclear
A new study from Duke University concludes that, “solar photovoltaics have joined the ranks of lower-cost alternatives to new nuclear plants.”
The study by economist John Blackburn, Solar and Nuclear Costs – the historic crossover, looks at North Carolina as a case example where electricity from new solar installations is now chepaer than electricty from new nuclear plants.
Blackburn does not mince words with the significance of this finding saying that,
“This new development has profound implications for North Carolina’s energy and economic future. Each and every stakeholder in North Carolina’s energy sector — citizens, elected officials, solar power installers and manufacturers, and electric utilities — should recognize this watershed moment.” http://www.energyboom.com/solar/solar-power-tipping-point-now-cheaper-nuclear
[JR: It's on the list!]
Singapore Gets Serious About Climate Change http://thegovmonitor.com/world_news/united_states/singapore-gets-serious-about-climate-change-36127.html
From Australia
Party Lines: Who’s leading on climate change?
Each week SBS asks two bloggers, one Labor and one Liberal, to discuss issues that have arisen on the campaign trail. This week we ask them: How important an issue is climate change, and who’s tackling it better? http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1311587/Party-Lines–Who-s-leading-on-climate-change-
Will the jobs created by this wind mega-project count as real jobs by members of the right in congress? Just wondering.
fj2, Dave E, Prokaryotes
As Dave E referred to #12 rather than #13 and as fj2 commented on the same subject I did in #11 without mentioning my comment,
(11. Philip says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
July 27, 2010 at 4:47 pm
The post on cycling is similar to the NYT’s articles on the heat wave: it takes a serious subject and turns it into an infotainment joke. The legacy of George Bush lives on, sometimes where you would least expect it…)
I’m wondering whether my comment was printed, or whether it was blocked. I’m asking because of late almost all of my comments, even one that simply provided a link to a speech by Bernie Sanders, have been blocked.
Prokaryotes
I think you missed the point. Douthat is not interested in discussing the differences between cap and trade and a carbon tax. He is against taking any action against climate change.
Maybe these news are interesting to you:
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE66Q22Q20100727
Germany installed a record 3.4 GW of solar installations in the first half of 2010.
UK Electric car grants saved by government http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2010/07/28/electric-car-grants-saved-by-government/
Yet another reason to invest in local renewables.
Explosion rocks Japanese tanker near Persian Gulf http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-07-28-japanese-tanker-explosion_N.htm
Climatic refugees in the coming decades may come from within the USA
Hot and dry areas will see out migration
cooler, greener regions will see in migration -just the opposite of the last 100 years.
Breakthrough in Thin-Film Solar Cells
Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have come out with positive news about increased efficiency of thin-film solar cells. As we know that scientists are trying to increase the efficiency of the solar cells so that they can be considered as serious alternative to the fossil fuels. http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/breakthrough-thin-film-solar-cells/
Peter, i saw some climate models and the southern hemisphere looks more habitable there. So i wouldn’t be surprised if people have to migrate to mexico in 20 years :)
Reid: Renewable electricity mandate still lacks 60 votes http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/111243-reid-renewable-electricity-mandate-still-lacks-60-votes
Group seeks to stall Mont. coal railroad http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/27/AR2010072705298.html
Massey puts mine disaster costs so far at $129 million http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2010/07/27/massey-puts-mine-disaster-costs-so-far-at-129-million/
Vodafone brings solar power mobile phone to India
The VF 247 Solar Powered phone, priced at 1,500 rupees ($32), should be available in stores next month.
It needs eight hours of direct sunlight to be fully charged and can support more than eight days of use on standby and four hours of talk time. It also comes with an electronic charger, an FM radio and a powerful torch light. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100727/ap_on_hi_te/as_india_solar_phone
Cities Seek Clout for ‘Green’ Taxi Rules
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and five other big city mayors are asking Congress to give them a lift in a long-running fight over turning traditional yellow-cab taxis into green, fuel-efficient vehicles.
Mr. Bloomberg and the mayors of Boston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington are trying to add a so-called “green taxi” law to Senate legislation aimed at cleaning up the BP oil spill. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703977004575393621868568694.html
Nissan Makes Like GM With 8-Year Battery Warranty for LEAF http://earth2tech.com/2010/07/27/nissan-makes-like-gm-with-8-year-battery-warranty-for-leaf/
Dirty Coal – Chinese Consider Setting Coal Production Ceiling by 2015 to Cut Emissions
China, the world’s biggest polluter, may impose a cap on the country’s coal production by 2015 and enforce energy consumption targets to cut carbon emissions and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
“There must be a ceiling on coal output in the future, and energy needs can be met with new and renewable energy,” Wu Yin http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-28/china-considers-setting-coal-production-ceiling-by-2015-to-cut-emissions.html
Market Value of Biomass Electricity to Reach $53B by 2020
The market value of electricity generated from biomass in the United States will increase steadily to $53 billion by 2020, up from approximately $45 billion in 2010, according to a new report. http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/20740
Prokaryotes
- Australia looks warmer and drier this century- though New Zealand looks as nice as ever.
The Sunbelt Exodus here is likely going to end this decade- climate change and demographic shifts in this nation – a great Doctorate program.
Prokaryotes at 15 -
The interesting report on the prospect of China capping its coal production begs a further question -
Assuming that a carbon price will be imposed for China’s 5YP starting in 2015, and that, to help achieve the pledge on greatly cutting the economy’s carbon intensity it is set at a moderate level, say $50/TC,
what then would be the impact on China’s economically recoverable reserves of coal ?
They would be cut of course, but I wonder how much sooner unconstrained production would start its post-peak terminal decline ?
In this light, it appears that the capping of production is actually a matter of conservation of the limited coal reserves that are viable under the effect of a carbon price –
Regards,
Lewis
Where to go to:
Mexico is not in the southern hemisphere.
Looking at climate models, Darwin, Australia is looking like a pretty good place to buy a house. Belize too – except for the hurricanes and the acidified coral reef. Bits of coastal Brazil – but there’s the flooding and the problem with the refugees from the Amazon. Argentina is decent.
I’d really like higher resolution climate projection maps.
Carbon Offset – Another Way of Building Green
Phoenix Trinity has chosen bio-charcoal pyrolysis as their method of carbon offsetting. They are using Biochar technology to achieve this. http://www.greenhomedesign.co.uk/carbon-offset-another-way-of-building-green/
China pilot carbon trading scheme to boost global trade
Current proposals include a choice between setting an absolute cap on carbon dioxide emissions in a certain area or industry, or a second option of converting the country’s carbon intensity target into carbon-related allowances for trading schemes.
http://www.risk.net/energy-risk/news/1724588/china-pilot-carbon-trading-scheme-boost-global-trade
Bull Fire in California’s Sequoia National Forest http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=44958
Revisiting a sea ice prediction
http://moregrumbinescience.blogspot.com/2010/07/revisiting-sea-ice-prediction.html
EPA Relies on Industry-Backed Studies to Assess Health Risks of Widely Used Herbicide http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=epa-atrazine-herbicide
homunq, #55 “Looking at climate models”
Well im still not sure, though i have some interesting caves on my backup plan and some land in the far northern hemisphere :) Mountains also seem not that bad. Lovelock suggest the north pole, but i would be cautious about sudden methane bubbles and seismic activities.
Can Science Feed the World?
http://www.nature.com/news/specials/food/index.html