Across areas of the northern Bekaa with better irrigation, many farmers have turned land over to growing water-thirsty but economically lucrative hashish plants – totalling some 16,000 acres of land

The valley is an economically underdeveloped area where more than 40 percent of residents are dependent on agriculture as their main source of living

The team ruled out a number of competing explanations for the trend.

The actual mechanism, he speculates, could vary between different forests.

"If you attempted to go out and mess around with the forests, you'd probably end up accelerating [mortality rates],"

The submerged permafrost is on the threshold of melting, and air temperatures in the East Siberian Arctic Shelf have increased by as much as five degrees Celsius over the last decade

In most summers, temperatures rise enough to permit melting in that region on only 10–15 days on average. But in 2008, the melt period totalled 35 days.

Estimates based on satellite measurements of the entire ice cap suggest that the island is now losing hundreds of billions of tons of ice each year.

"If you don't eat meat at every meal, if meat becomes more of a side dish than a centerpiece, you can fill the plate with healthy organic food for about the same price."

a dairy farmer who noted that livestock got sick less after a switch to organic practices

Three years later, he says he has more energy and wakes up earlier.

Now, he says, he is rarely ill. His urine is a brighter yellow, a sign that he is ingesting more vitamins and nutrients.

Ban said that the UN is studying the environmental impacts of conflicts around the world, from the Balkans to Afghanistan, from Lebanon to the Sudan.

Lasting peace in war-torn Darfur will depend in part on resolving the underlying competition for water and fertile land, Ban said, adding that there can be no durable peace in Afghanistan if the natural resources that sustain livelihoods and ecosystems are destroyed.

"We have seen how environmental damage and the collapse of institutions are threatening human health, livelihoods and security," he said. "These risks can also jeopardize fragile peace and development in post-conflict societies." "Let us renew our commitment to preventing the exploitation of the environment in times of conflict," said the secretary-general, "and to protecting the environment as a pillar of our work for peace."

most of those who are poor and face the biggest threat from climate change are descended from people who had indigenous adaptation strategies to climatic and other environmental hazards which would - if they hadn't been colonised - have made them far less vulnerable than the 'rich' to the impacts of climate change.

If some of the worst-case climate change scenarios do come to pass, then the rich are also going to be extremely vulnerable and, if push comes to shove, I'd prefer to have knowledge of my land and how to grow food in inhospitable environments

the very wisdom that could help make us all less vulnerable to climate change is being lost as more and more people are sucked into a global economy that values only certain types of knowledge and beliefs.

“The associated socio-economic and political stress can undermine the functioning of communities, the effectiveness of institutions, and the stability of societal structures. These degraded conditions could contribute to civil strife, and, worse, armed conflict.”

“Most critical for human survival are water and food, which are sensitive to changing climatic conditions,”

“Large areas of Africa are suffering from scarcity of food and fresh water resources, making them more vulnerable to conflict.

“Although climate change bears a significant conflict potential, it can also transform the international system toward more cooperation if it is seen as a common threat that requires joint action,”

the seeming conflict between environment and the economy will be best overcome with the recognition that protecting the climate in the best interest of the economy.”

“History has shown how dependent our culture is on a narrow window of climatic conditions for average temperature and precipitation,”

the average American consumes one third of their calories in junk food

the equivalent of 2100 kcal go into producing a can of diet soda which contains a maximum of 1 kcal. About 1600 kcal go into producing the aluminium can alone

food travels 2400 km on average to its consumer in the US. This requires 1.4 times the energy actually contained in the food