Barren plateau turns into lush land: Changes in Loess Plateau, NW China

New China TV– Sep 11, 2017

Stark barren land turns into lush green fields: Decades of afforestation converts dusty and dismal Loess Plateau in NW China into beautiful green forests.

Loess Plateau – China

World Bank

Home to more than 50 million people, the Loess Plateau in China’s Northwest takes its name from the dry powdery wind-blown soil. Centuries of overuse and overgrazing led to one of the highest erosion rates in the world and widespread poverty.

Two projects set out to restore China’s heavily degraded Loess Plateau through one of the world’s largest erosion control programs with the goal of returning this poor part of China to an area of sustainable agricultural production.

More than 2.5 million people in four of China’s poorest provinces — Shanxi, Shaanxi and Gansu, as well as the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region — were lifted out of poverty. Through the introduction of sustainable farming practices, farmers’ incomes doubled, employment diversified and the degraded environment was revitalized.

Groundwater Depletion Amplifies the Water-Energy Nexus – Debra Perrone

University of California Television (UCTV) – Feb 27, 2021

Debra Perrone is an Assistant Professor of UCSB’s Environmental Studies Program. Deb integrates research methods from engineering, physical science, and law to inform water sustainability and policy. [Show ID: 36804]

State of Thirst: California’s Water Future | KQED QUEST

KQED

Jul 11, 2008

Are we in danger of running out of water? California’s population is growing by 600,000 people a year, but much of the state receives as much annual rainfall as Morocco. With fish populations crashing, global warming, and the demands of the country’s largest agricultural industry, the pressures on our water supply are increasing. KQED’s Quest reports.

Groundwater Depletion Amplifies the Water-Energy Nexus – Debra Perrone

University of California Television (UCTV)

Feb 27, 2021

Debra Perrone is an Assistant Professor of UCSB’s Environmental Studies Program. Deb integrates research methods from engineering, physical science, and law to inform water sustainability and policy. [Show ID: 36804]

Why The Banana Business Of Chiquita And Dole Is At Risk

CNBC – Apr 21, 2019

A deadly fungus is spreading from Southeast Asia and wiping out whole plantations of America’s favorite fruit: the banana. The tropical fruit’s popularity is thanks to a few pioneering entrepreneurs, who founded Chiquita under a different name over a century ago. Now, the business they built is at risk of decimation if the fungus reaches Latin America, the source of 97% of the U.S.’ banana imports.

Bananas As We Know Them Are Doomed

VICE News – Feb 28, 2020

There are thousands of types of bananas but Americans have eyes for only one kind — the very marketable yellow Cavendish, which accounts for 95% of global banana exports. But this multi-billion dollar industry is under threat. A fungus called Panama Disease is rapidly infecting the world’s Cavendish crops and could spell disaster for the monoculture-dependent worldwide banana trade. VICE correspondent Isobel Yeung heads to the heart of banana country in Latin American and the Philippines to see the devastating effects of the disease and to investigate what the loss of the banana would really mean besides a less colorful lunchbox.

Live: NASA astronauts conduct spacewalk to prepare for upcoming solar array upgrades

CGTN

Streamed live 15 hours ago

Two NASA astronauts Kate Rubins and Victor Glover perform a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) on February 28. They will step out of the space station to begin assembling and installing modification kits required for upcoming solar array upgrades. The current solar arrays are functioning well, but have begun to show signs of degradation, as expected, as they were designed for 15-year service life. The first pair of solar arrays were deployed in December 2000 and have been powering the station for more than 20 years. Later this year, the new solar arrays will be positioned in front of six of the current arrays, increasing the station’s total available power from 160 kilowatts to up to 215 kilowatts.

Investing in Green Transportation and Infrastructure with Senator Ed Markey

Senator Markey

Streamed live 10 hours ago

Join us live this morning with Senator Ed Markey, hear about his bills to cut emissions and make our roads safer and more accessible for all, and get involved in the movement for a green, resilient, and equitable transportation future.

Live: Rice seeds brought back by Chang’e-5 spacecraft grow on Earth – Ep.3 “上天”水 稻落地

CGTN

The Chang’e-5 lunar probe started its 23-day space journey with a variety of plant seeds on November 24, 2020, including 40-gram rice seeds. These seeds traveled through Van Allen Belts and encountered violent sunspot activity during the trip. They later successfully returned to Earth with the #spacecraft​ and it was the first time Chinese researchers conducted mutation breeding experiments in deep space. Follow CGTN to see the batch of precious rice seeds that are now planted in labs and land in South China Agricultural University.