We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, March 20, 2011

High food prices said foretaste of climate shocks

by Alister Doyle from Reuters. 
"...in the next few decades the build-up of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere could greatly increase the risk of droughts, flooding, pest infestation and water scarcity for agriculture systems already under tremendous stress,"....

World food prices hit a record high last month, according to the United Nations. High food prices are adding to poverty and are a factor in triggering uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt which have spread across the Arab world.
See also, "Chinese Drought Could Cause Global Food Crisis" from Huffington Post.
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