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"Floods and drought highlight summer of climate truth Published: 31/07/2012 at 01:46 AMNewspaper section: News For years, climate scientists have been warning the world that the heavy use of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) threatens the world with human-induced climate change. The rising atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, a byproduct of burning fossil fuels, would warm the planet and change rainfall and storm patterns and raise sea levels. Now those changes are hitting in every direction, even as powerful corporate lobbies and media propagandists like Rupert Murdoch try to deny the truth. In recent weeks, the United States has entered its worst drought in modern times. The Midwest and the Plains states, the country's breadbasket, are baking under a massive heat wave, with more than half of the country under a drought emergency and little relief in sight. Halfway around the world, Beijing has been hit by the worst rains on record, with floods killing many people. Japan is similarly facing record-breaking torrential rains. Two of Africa's impoverished drylands _ the Horn of Africa in the East and the Sahel in the West _ have experienced devastating droughts and famines in the past two years: the rains never came, causing many thousands to perish, while millions face life-threatening hunger. Scientists have given a name to our era, the Anthropocene, a term built on ancient Greek roots to mean "the Human-dominated epoch" _ a new period of earth's history in which humanity has become the cause of global-scale environmental change. Humanity affects not only the earth's climate, but also ocean chemistry, the land and marine habitats of millions of species, the quality of air and water, and the cycles of water, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other essential components that underpin life on the planet. For many years, the risk of climate change was widely regarded as something far in the future, a risk perhaps facing our children or their children. That

Iceland 'best country for gender equality' Iceland's government is led by a female prime minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir Continue reading the main story Women in the Workplace Job gap 'narrowing for mothers' Gender case hits insurance costs Call for more women on boards Women find glass ceiling 'intact' Iceland remains the country that has the greatest equality between men and women, according to an annual report by the World Economic Forum (WEF). It is the second year in succession that Iceland has topped the foundation's Global Gender Gap Report. Nordic nations dominate the top of the list of 134 countries, with Norway in second place and Finland third. The report measures equity in the areas of politics, education, employment and health. Continue reading the main story Lowest gender gaps in 2010 1 Iceland - no change from 2009 2 Norway - Up from 3rd 3 Finland - Down from 2nd 4 Sweden - No change 5 New Zealand - No change 6 Republic of Ireland - Up from 8th 7 Denmark - No change 8 Lesotho - Up from 10th 9 Philippines - No change 10 Switzerland - Up from 13th 11 Spain - Up from 17th 12 South Africa - Down from 6th 13 Germany - Down from 12th 14 Belgium - Up from 33rd 15 UK - No change Source: World Economic Forum Sweden is in fourth place, with New Zealand fifth. "Nordic countries continue to lead the way in eliminating gender inequality," said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum. "Low gender gaps are directly correlated with high economic competitiveness. Women and girls must be treated equally if a country is to grow and prosper." The UK came 15th in the latest rankings - no change from 2009. France was one of the biggest fallers, down to 46th place from 18th in 2009. WEF that said was a result of a decline in the number of women holding ministerial positions in the French government. Meanwhile the US has risen to 19th place from 31st in 2009, because of a higher number of women in President Obama'

Freer Trade Could Fill the World's Rice Bowl TWITTER LINKEDIN SIGN IN TO E-MAIL OR SAVE THIS PRINT REPRINTS SHARE By TYLER COWEN Published: April 27, 2008 RISING food prices mean hunger for millions and also political unrest, as has already been seen in Haiti, Egypt and Ivory Coast. Yes, more expensive energy and bad weather are partly at fault, but the real question is why adjustment hasn't been easier. A big problem is that the world doesn't have enough trade in foodstuffs. Enlarge This Image Alanah Torralba/European Pressphoto Agency Filipino port workers unload sacks of rice imported from Vietnam to be distributed by the National Food Authority. Related Times Topics: Rice Blogrunner: Reactions From Around the Web Managing Globalization: Can rice Farming Be Laissez-Faire? The damage that trade restrictions cause is probably most evident in the case of rice. Although rice is the major foodstuff for about half of the world, it is highly protected and regulated. Only about 5 to 7 percent of the world's rice production is traded across borders; that's unusually low for an agricultural commodity. So when the price goes up - indeed, many varieties of rice have roughly doubled in price since 2007 - this highly segmented market means that the trade in rice doesn't flow to the places of highest demand. Poor rice yields are not the major problem. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that global rice production increased by 1 percent last year and says that it is expected to increase 1.8 percent this year. That's not impressive, but it shouldn't cause starvation. The more telling figure is that over the next year, international trade in rice is expected to decline more than 3 percent, when it should be expanding. The decline is attributable mainly to recent restrictions on rice exports in rice-producing countries like India, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Cambodia and Egypt. At first glance, this seems understandable, bec

"Overall, the gender gap narrowed slightly across the globe in 2013, as 86 of 133 countries showed improvements. However, "change is definitely slow", says one of the report's authors, Saadia Zahidi. Explore the maps below to find out how countries compare overall - as well as in key areas of daily life, such as in health, education, employment and politics."