Crop failure and bankruptcy threaten farmers as drought grips Europe

Farmers across northern and central Europe are facing crop failure and bankruptcy as one of the most intense regional droughts in recent memory strengthens its grip.

A blighted wheat field in Täby, central Sweden -
however, the energy-rich Tour de France goes on.

States of emergency have been declared in Latvia and Lithuania, while the sun continues to bake Swedish fields that have received only 12% of their normal rainfall.

The abnormally hot temperatures – which have topped 30C in the Arctic Circle – are in line with climate change trends, according to the World Meteorological Organization. And as about 50 wildfires rage across Sweden, no respite from the heatwave is yet in sight.

Lennart Nilsson, a 55-year-old cattle farmer from Falkenberg near Malmo and co-chair of the Swedish Farmers Association, said it was the worst drought he had experienced.

Read the story by Arthur Nelsen from The Guardian - “Crop failure and bankruptcy threaten farmers as drought grips Europe.”

(SBS commentators for the present Tour de France have several times mentioned the wonderful cycling weather being experienced so far in the three-week race around France, seemingly oblivious to the fact that what they are “enjoying” is the worst drought many Europeans can remember - Robert McLean)

Toshiba’s nuclear flagship goes bust after $10 billion losses

The rapidly-evolving nuclear power crisis escalated dramatically yesterday when US nuclear giant Westinghouse, a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Toshiba, filed for bankruptcy.

Where Toshiba's $10bn nuclear debt came from:
 the Vogtle AP1000 construction site in
Georgia, under inspection by NRC
Commissioner Svinicki.

The Chapter 11 filing took place in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in New York City.

Westinghouse and its parent Toshiba are in crisis because of massive cost overruns building four 'AP1000' nuclear power reactors in the southern US states of Georgia and South Carolina.

Read Jim Green’s story on the Ecologist - “Toshiba’s nuclear flagship goes bust after $10 billion losses.”

Detroit, climate change and bankruptcy are all connected

Detroit’s bankruptcy and climate appear, a first glance, unrelated, but the two are inextricably intertwined.

The Detroit drama is well worth watching.

We have a ring-side seat to watch as America’s fourth largest city in the 1950s becomes dishevelled and wrestles with disarray.

The demise of Detroit is strikingly sad and we should all pay attention as it appears a forerunner of the dilemmas cities of the world will face as their climates become increasingly unpredictable, people leave in search of more stable climates, and those who remain struggle to flourish and find contentment in a city whose infrastructure is fraying.

Detroit, known colloquially at “Motor City”, suffered, of course, because of the 2008-9 Global Financial Crisis, but its fate seemed sealed long before that with car buyers almost unconsciously admitting to oil scarcity and climate change and so not eager to drive vehicles such as those rolling off the Detroit production lines.

The American motor manufacturers had realized their folly, too late as it turned out, that their customers no longer wanted to worsen world oil scarcity (really they just wanted more economical vehicles that we cheaper to operate) and they were eager to enhance their status in that they were concerned about the environment (they wanted to be seen as “green”) – they really simply wanted for save money and in their search for that and better quality, turned to the Asian and European manufacturers.

In the midst of all this turmoil, there appears to be some almost unrecognised need, or is it desire, to turn away from the brashness and consumptive western-way of life.

Whether recognized and understood or not, there is a growing sense among people that humanity’s survival depends upon a simpler way of living – the absolute opposite of what was the essence of a booming Detroit midway through last century.

That misunderstood and unconsciously sought for simpler life stands as probably the one real chance mitigate the real driver of climate change – our consumptive, combative and competitive behaviours.

The Detroit of today, as fragile as it is, appears to be in the early stages of an adaptation all communities face as the reality of climate change begin to truly bite; an adaptation which is about building community resilience, enriching neighbourhoods, understanding its “food-shed”, and understand that survival is inextricably linked to “loving where you live” – meaning that everything important on a day-to-day basis is within a 10-minute walk.

The Washington Post story headed: ”Detroit goes bankrupt, largest municipal filing in U.S. history” explains what is happening in Detroit.