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posted by martyb on Thursday August 10 2017, @04:31PM   Printer-friendly
from the higher-food-prices-coming dept.

CleanTechnica reports

The "flash drought" that came out of nowhere this summer in the US High Plains, afflicting Montana and the Dakotas the worst, has already destroyed more than half of this year's wheat crop, going by some recent field surveys. Considering that the region is now one of the top wheat-growing regions in the world, the damage is very notable.

These so-called flash droughts are expected to become considerably more common over the coming decades as the climate continues warming and weather patterns continue changing.

[...] Something that's interesting to note here is that 2011, only 6 years back, was actually one of the wettest years on record in eastern Montana. Those sorts of rapid swings between extreme precipitation and flooding on the one hand, and extreme flash droughts on the other, are only going to become more common from here on out. Eventually, most of the agriculture in the region will have to cease.

Grist calls this a Cereal Killer.


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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 10 2017, @07:59PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 10 2017, @07:59PM (#551832)

    I've been thinking there is some contaminant in bread that people are getting allergic too, for example something left over from the cysteine extraction process:
    https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/53jx5n/theres-human-hair-in-your-bread [vice.com]

    The more gluten intolerant people may just be less suitable for cannibalism than the rest.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 12 2017, @06:51AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 12 2017, @06:51AM (#552776)

    I think most of our digestive systems will be able to cope with human hair with no problems. The issue is there's a LOT of stuff that's not declared, or declared as "inert" when it's not actually inert: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/weed-whacking-herbicide-p/ [scientificamerican.com]

    Remember all the studies claiming that glyphosate is safe? Even if those studies are right, Roundup isn't only glyphosate, is contains POEA:

    One specific inert ingredient, polyethoxylated tallowamine, or POEA, was more deadly to human embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells than the herbicide itself – a finding the researchers call “astonishing.”

    The new findings intensify a debate about so-called “inerts” — the solvents, preservatives, surfactants and other substances that manufacturers add to pesticides. Nearly 4,000 inert ingredients are approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

    Inert ingredients are often less scrutinized than active pest-killing ingredients. Since specific herbicide formulations are protected as trade secrets, manufacturers aren’t required to publicly disclose them. Although Monsanto is the largest manufacturer of glyphosate-based herbicides, several other manufacturers sell similar herbicides with different inert ingredients.

    But some inert ingredients have been found to potentially affect human health. Many amplify the effects of active ingredients by helping them penetrate clothing, protective equipment and cell membranes, or by increasing their toxicity. For example, a Croatian team recently found that an herbicide formulation containing atrazine caused DNA damage, which can lead to cancer, while atrazine alone did not.

    So there could be other reasons than people suddenly getting sensitive to wheat. I hear people saying they can eat bread from a different country, and others thus saying the problem is psychosomatic but it could be something is actually different.

    Often I get pimples when I eat at Subway - I just have mayo, vege, tuna/meat (???), bread. But when I eat bread + meat (lamb) + garlic mayo at various cheap Middle Eastern places I don't get pimples. So what's the difference? The mayo is different? The meat? The lack of azodicarbonamide in the bread?

    I'm not one of those afraid of chemicals just because of long names but the thing is the rats and mice they test these shit on don't die from getting pimples and they don't live much longer than 2 years. And the track record of industries and corporations in such stuff isn't confidence inspiring. If there are problems it doesn't affect those rich sociopaths at the top who can afford to eat organic food and have their own private medical team.

    There are some theories that the US wheat is different: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/09/26/226510988/doctors-say-changes-in-wheat-do-not-explain-rise-of-celiac-disease [npr.org]
    But others say:

    "I don't think there's one evil food causing the problem in our society," Leffler says. In fact, he says most people eat wheat with no problem. "There's good evidence that the vast majority of people actually do just fine with wheat

    But the fact is the vast majority of the US people are overweight and unhealthy. It may not be due to the wheat and more due to sugar, but that makes me doubt him and his claims of good evidence.