Climate
Study: Agriculture Sector Should Ramp Up Response To Climate Change
The agriculture sector needs to ramp up its response to climate change, especially in the Midwest, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers at the University of Maryland used climate projections and historical trends in agricultural productivity to predict how changes in temperature and rainfall will…
1,000 Years Ago, Corn Made This Society Big. Then, A Changing Climate Destroyed Them
The Mississippian American Indian culture rose to power after 900 A.D. by farming corn. Now, new evidence suggests a dramatic change in climate might have led to the culture’s collapse in the 1300s.
Why We’re Growing The Most Sweet Potatoes Since WWII
Sweet potatoes are undergoing a modern renaissance in this country. While they have always made special appearances on many American tables around the holidays, year-round demand for the root vegetables has grown. In 2015, farmers produced more sweet potatoes than in any year since World War II. War Effort “A lot of things were hard…
Child Care Scarcity Has Very Real Consequences For Working Families
One of the most stressful questions a new parent confronts is, “Who’s going to take care of my baby when I go back to work?” Figuring out the answer to that question is often not easy. When NPR, along with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, surveyed…
Commentary |Walls That Unite
One morning in June 2007, I stopped by the construction site of a Habitat for Humanity house in the 3700 block of Flora Avenue and noticed that work had come to a temporary halt. As I explained soon after that in a Kansas City Star column, someone at the site had noticed that something didn’t…
How You Can Stop Antibiotic Resistance (And Still Eat Bacon)
“This is an avoidable disaster,” says one expert. And there are at least three things you can do to help.
Why You Should Care About ‘Big Ag’ Companies Getting Bigger
Five of the six biggest companies that produce and sell seeds and chemicals to the world’s farmers are pursuing deals that could leave a market dominated by just three giant, global companies. They say getting bigger means bringing more sophisticated and innovative solutions to farmers faster, but opponents say consolidation has irreversible downsides. Dow and…
Take 5 For Your Health
For Some Ironman Triathletes, Kansas City Is Like Training In Hawaii For a handful of triathletes training in a pool at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kansas, simply swimming laps is too easy. Instead, they’ve got their legs constricted so their arms do the work of dragging their bodies through the water. Kansas…
Low Wheat Prices Could Hit Kansas Rural Economy Hard
This year was a very good year for growing wheat, but that means it could be a very bad year for wheat farmers. There’s a glut on the global wheat market and prices for winter wheat – which is grown all up and down the Great Plains, from Texas to North Dakota– wheat prices this…
Flexing Our Communal Protest Muscles
In our own way, America is at war. It may seem dramatic to say, but it’s the truth. Not against a foreign enemy. Not with guns and tanks and nukes. We’re at war with our fellow Americans, with our sense of communal normalcy. Right now the weapon is everything we can lay hands on —…