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The Graphic Truth: Has climate change hurt or helped farmers?

The Graphic Truth: Has climate change hurt or helped farmers?
Ari Winkleman

Over the past half century, climate change has had an immense impact on the farmers who produce the food we eat. A new study by Cornell University shows that global warming has knocked 21 percent off of global agriculture productivity growth since 1965, equivalent to seven years of normal growth if humans had not polluted the planet. But not all countries have been affected in the same way. Farmers in warmer parts of the world have been hit hard as conditions grow more arid, but sub-polar regions in Canada or Siberia are now actually better for agriculture because they are not as cold as they used to be. Here we take a look at how climate has affected farming productivity growth around the world.

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​Iran war threatens water access in Middle East

Iran war threatens water access in Middle East

Natalie Johnson, Eileen Zhang
As missiles fly and oil prices soar, the Iran war is exposing another major resource vulnerability in the Middle East: water. Drinking water has been a scarce commodity in a region defined by a dry climate and low rainfall, but attacks on the region’s desalination plants, which convert seawater into potable water, threaten to open a new front.At [...]
​Opinion polling on views on Iran war.

Opinion polling on views on Iran war.

Natalie Johnson
There’s a striking gap in how Americans and Israelis view the US-Israeli war on Iran. Polling done by the Israel Democracy Institute showed the attacks have overwhelming support among Israelis. A separate poll done by NPR/PBS News/Marist revealed a barely a third of Americans back them. That disparity matters strategically for Israeli Prime [...]
Iran conflict: who could run out of weapons first?
The US and Israel have weapons and defense systems that are far more sophisticated than Iran’s. Precision missiles. Advanced radar. Missile defense systems stacked on top of each other. The plan going into Iran was simple: hit hard and fast, destroy Tehran’s military, and force the regime to fold before the fight dragged on. [...]
Oil and gas markets respond to the conflict in the Persian Gulf
The conflict in the Persian Gulf is already disrupting shipping in one of the most significant oil and gas-producing regions in the world. Tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has all but ground to a halt, and major oil and LNG facilities in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have been disrupted. Meanwhile, oil and gas prices are [...]