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posted by n1 on Tuesday May 06 2014, @12:57PM   Printer-friendly
from the but-not-hot-sauce-resistant dept.

Evan Halper writes in the LA Times that with efforts to reduce carbon emissions lagging, researchers, backed by millions of dollars from the federal government, are looking for ways to protect key industries from the impact of climate change by racing to develop new breeds of farm animals that can stand up to the hazards of global warming. "We are dealing with the challenge of difficult weather conditions at the same time we have to massively increase food production" to accommodate larger populations and a growing demand for meat, says Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. For example a team of researchers is trying to map the genetic code of bizarre-looking African naked-neck chickens to see if their ability to withstand heat can be bred into flocks of US broilers. "The game is changing since the climate is changing," says Carl Schmidt. "We have to start now to anticipate what changes we have to make in order to feed 9 billion people," citing global-population estimates for 2050.

Warmer temperatures can create huge problems for animals farmed for food. Turkeys are vulnerable to a condition that makes their breast meat mushy and unappetizing. Disease rips through chicken coops. Brutal weather can claim entire cattle herds. Some climate experts, however, question the federal government's emphasis on keeping pace with a projected growing global appetite for meat. Because raising animals demands so many resources, the only viable way to hit global targets for greenhouse gas reduction may be to encourage people to eat less meat and point to an approach backed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates that takes animals out the process altogether. "There's no way to produce enough meat for 9 billion people," says Bill Gates. "Yet we can't ask everyone to become vegetarians. We need more options for producing meat without depleting our resources."
 
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  • (Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Wednesday May 07 2014, @08:15AM

    by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Wednesday May 07 2014, @08:15AM (#40453) Journal

    I'm being modded down by the FOSSie faction because I dared to post The Hairyfeet Challenge when they started throwing around their anecdotes, its no different than Slashdot where I'd be modded down on several topics, no matter what I said, if I dared point out that a FOSSie's bullshit and anecdotes were just that.

    As for my frankly not that unreal scenario? lets see...what do those 3 countries have in common? A hell of a lot more than the Axis of WWII that is for sure and they stayed together until the end. All three have fascist leanings, all three have nukes, all three have extremely powerful military industries, all three have a history of empire, have a history of making friends of opportunity (hell they were allies in WWII and they couldn't have been more different then), honestly if all three countries had their lifestyle threatened I could easily see them making a backroom deal. As for the bankers? Unless you could manage to catch them all in a room and execute them it would take them only a few hours to completely shit all over the economy. Hell they nearly cratered the US economy in 07 and I would argue all we did was delay the inevitable [youtube.com] because they have gotten the governments of the world to put SOOOO much of the money into their wall street gambles that it WILL collapse. Of course they will have cashed out and slinked off, probably figuring a way to bleed a few more pieces of silver out before they bail, but it WILL fall. Look at the graph at around 3.30 mark, see how much money was in the market when the 29 crash hit? About 125% of th USA GDP...now? Its at 435%! and climbing.

    So don't feel bad for me, I'll call them the way I see 'em, karma be damned, and I have a feeling when that bubble bursts we'll see who ends up being friends with whom.

    --
    ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
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