#Carbon levy on livestock

[ireton]

Dairy farmers in Denmark face having to pay an annual tax of 672 krone ($96) per cow for the planet-heating emissions they generate.

The new levies on livestock come into effect in 2030.

[acti-veg]

From 2030, farmers will have to pay a levy of 300 kroner ($43; £34) per tonne of methane (as per carbon dioxide equivalent) on emissions from livestock including cows and pigs, which will rise to 750 kroner in 2035.

“[It is a] huge, huge task that is now underway: to transform large parts of our land from agricultural production to forestry, to natural spaces, to ensure that we can bring life back to our fjords,” Jeppe Bruus said.

[rjzimmerman]

A world-first emissions tax is going after gassy cattle. (Washington Post)

Denmark is set to impose the world’s first emissions tax on livestock beginning in 2030, targeting greenhouse gases emitted by the country’s cows, pigs and sheep.

According to the plan, farmers would pay about $43 per metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent produced by their livestock. That rate would increase to about $108 in 2035. The levies would be partially offset by a 60 percent tax deduction, rendering them closer to $17 per metric ton in 2030 and $43 in 2035, according to the Danish government, which unveiled the proposed bill this week.

Danish officials project that the tax would cut the country’s emissions by about 1.8 million metric tons (about 2 million tons) of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2030. Humans emitted more than 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide in 2022, according to the MIT Climate Portal.

“We will be the first country in the world to introduce a real [carbon dioxide equivalent tax] on agriculture. Other countries will be inspired by it,” Danish Tax Minister Jeppe Bruus said in a statement. “The agreement shows how much we can achieve when we come together across party colors and interests to find joint solutions to one of the greatest challenges of our time.”

The deal between the center-right government and representatives of groups including farmers, the industry and unions was reached Monday, according to the Associated Press. Farmers across Europe have, for months, been protesting cuts to subsidies and new regulations, some of them designed to reduce climate-changing emissions, The Washington Post reported.

Proceeds from Denmark’s proposed tax — which is expected to be approved by the country’s parliament, as it was written with broad support — for 2030-31 will be returned to the industry to support its green transition, the government said, with the handling of proceeds to be revisited in 2032. The bill also includes the establishment of more than 600,000 acres of new forest areas, among other initiatives.

[darkmaga-returns]

No, that “agriculture is becoming its largest share of climate pollution” is patently and demonstrably false. Nevertheless, the “tax on pollution has the aim to change behavior” to eat a more vegetarian diet with protein coming from insects. This descent into lunacy is dizzying.

Don’t get too smug. Elon Musk and Joe Rogan also support a carbon tax.

⁃ Patrick Wood, Editor.

Denmark, known for its inventive restaurants and elegant design studios, is about to become known for something more basic: the world’s first belch and manure tax.

That’s because there are five times as many pigs and cows in Denmark as there are people. Nearly two-thirds of its land is taken up by farming. And agriculture is becoming its largest share of climate pollution, putting lawmakers under intense public pressure to reduce it.

So now, Denmark’s unlikely coalition government, made up of three parties from across the political spectrum, has agreed to tax the planet-heating methane emissions that all those animals expel through their poop, farts and burps. The measure, under negotiation for years, was passed by the Danish Parliament this month, making it the only such climate levy on livestock in the world.

“I think it’s good,” said Rasmus Angelsnes, 31, who was shopping for dinner in Copenhagen one recent afternoon. “It’s kind of a nudge to make different choices, maybe more climate-friendly choices.”

Never mind that his shopping cart contained thick slices of pork belly, which he planned to cook that rainy evening with potatoes and parsley. “Comfort food,” he said sheepishly.

The tax is part of a larger package designed to clean up the country’s agricultural pollution and eventually restore some farmland to its natural form, like peat lands, which are exceptionally good at locking away planet-heating gases underground but were drained decades ago to grow crops.

Denmark’s quest is also part of a reckoning for many agricultural powerhouses, including the United States, as they face calls to clean up pollution from farms, while balancing the needs of politically powerful agricultural lobbies.

Globally, the food system accounts for a fourth of greenhouses gases, and reducing those emissions requires making tough choices on diets, jobs and industries. At the same time, farmers are vulnerable to the hazards of climate change, with punishing heat, droughts and floods exacerbated by the burning of fossil fuels. That makes food a particularly vexing climate problem to take on.

No wonder that efforts to reduce agriculture’s climate emissions have faced stiff resistance, from Brussels to Delhi to Wellington, where the New Zealand government proposed a burp tax in 2022 only to have a later government scrap it.

Even Denmark’s measure went through intense political wrangling. An independent panel of experts had laid out several pathways, including a higher tax that the farm lobby vigorously opposed. When the government settled on a plan that would give farmers time and subsidies to bring the tax down, even to zero, environmental campaigners objected, calling it too lax.

“Food for people, not feed for animals,” read one protest placard in front of the government office, where last-minute negotiations were underway in October.

“I love minced meat,” heckled some teenagers as they walked past the protesters.

[joseantpol]

Do we no longer need cows or how are they trying to replace farm products with “test-tube meat”?

It has long been no secret to anyone that in different countries artificial food products are being developed that are very difficult to distinguish from real ones. Large companies, such as the Swiss Bell Food Group, invest considerable funds in the development of this industry. But how to get people to switch from organic meat to meat printed on a special printer?

For example, Denmark's coalition government agreed in June 2024 to introduce the world’s first carbon emissions tax on agriculture. It will mean new levies on livestock starting in 2030. It should be recalled that Denmark is the largest exporter of dairy and pork products, and the agricultural sector is the country’s largest source of income. Over 140,000 people of the working population are employed in agriculture. The volume of agricultural and livestock production is more than 3 times higher than the needs of the country’s population. Total exports of agricultural products amount to over 16.8 billion euros. The livestock sector employs 48 thousand people.

So, we can understand that farmers are one of the most profitable groups of the population. At the same time, the government decided to introduce a new tax specifically in relation to this category of citizens of the country. The “green agenda” today is working against people. Green parties and “test-tube meat” producers say the tax is an important step in the fight against climate change and the need to move to more environmentally friendly food sources. And this is not surprising, because competitors need to be moved. Not every farmer is willing to pay $96 per cow annually. This means that annually, a farmer with a thousand cows will pay approximately $96,000. Some people say that the new tax is not aimed at actually reducing CO2 emissions, but at increasing the income of artificial meat producers. Also, critics of the tax note that it does not take into account the real conditions of farmers, who already suffer from high prices for building materials and difficulties in obtaining subsidies. We are not even talking about the constant rise in prices for electricity and other utilities. The introduction of this tax may lead to additional costs for farmers, which in turn may lead to a decrease in production and deterioration in the economic situation in agriculture.

Danish farmers’ group Bæredygtigt Landbrug said the measures amounted to a “scary experiment.” “We believe that the agreement is pure bureaucracy,” chairman Peter Kiær said in a statement. “We recognize that there is a climate problem… But we do not believe that this agreement will solve the problems, because it will put a spoke in the wheel of agriculture’s green investments.” Some representatives of Danish farming have begun to blame artificial meat companies for introducing a new tax in the country. According to them, in this way those companies are trying to replace natural products with their own. After all, this tax will hit the pockets of many farmers and they will have to say goodbye to part of their livestock.

“I would not be surprised to see schools in Denmark and Sweden ban meat altogether. That’s how it will be,” said Saxo Capital Markets market strategist Charu Chanan in 2023. This is already happening today. While some people will pursue profit, presenting it under the guise of concern for the environment, others will suffer. We remember very well the story about harmless electric vehicles and the gasoline electric generators from which they are charged. And of course, the cherry on the cake is “the almost environmentally friendly” recycling of batteries from those cars.

[leprivatebanker]

Denmark to charge farmers €100 a cow in first carbon tax on agriculture

Coalition government agrees annual levy on emissions from livestock after months of fraught negotiations

[bountyofbeads]

France's Macron calls Amazon rainforest fires an 'international crisis'

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/23/americas/amazon-fires-macron-g7-intl-hnk/index.html

The Amazon is burning because the world eats so much meat

By Eliza Mackintosh | Updated 1 hour ago Aug 23, 2019 | CNN | Posted August 23, 2019 12:48 PM ET |

(CNN) - While the wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest may constitute an "international crisis," they are hardly an accident.

The vast majority of the fires have been set by loggers and ranchers to clear land for cattle. The practice is on the rise, encouraged by Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's populist pro-business president, who is backed by the country's so-called "beef caucus."

While this may be business as usual for Brazil's beef farmers, the rest of the world is looking on in horror.

So, for those wondering how they could help save the rainforest, known as "the planet's lungs" for producing about 20% of the world's oxygen, the answer may be simple. Eat less meat.

It's an idea that Finland has already floated. On Friday, the Nordic country's finance minister called for the European Union to "urgently review the possibility of banning Brazilian beef imports" over the Amazon fires.

Brazil is the world's largest exporter of beef, providing close to 20% of the total global exports, according the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) -- a figure that could rise in the coming years.

Last year the country shipped 1.64 million tonnes of beef -- the highest volume in history -- generating $6.57 billion in revenue, according to the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association (Abiec), an association of more than 30 Brazilian meat-packing companies.

The growth of Brazil's beef industry has been driven in part by strong demand from Asia -- mostly China and Hong Kong. These two markets alone accounted for nearly 44% of all beef exports from Brazil in 2018, according to the USDA.

And a trade deal struck in June between South America's Mercosur bloc of countries and the European Union could open up even more markets for Brazil's beef-packing industry.

Speaking after the agreement as announced, the head of Abiec, Antônio Camardelli, said the pact could help Brazil gain access to prospective new markets, like Indonesia and Thailand, while boosting sales with existing partners, like the EU. "A deal of this magnitude is like an invitation card for speaking with other countries and trade blocs," Camardelli told Reuters in July.

Once implemented, the deal will lift a 20% levy on beef imports into the EU.

But, on Friday, Ireland said it was ready to block the deal unless Brazil took action on the Amazon.

In a statement Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar described as "Orewellian" Bolsonaro's attempt to blame the fires on environmental groups. Varadkar said that Ireland will monitor Brazil's environmental actions to determine whether to block the Mercosur deal, which is two years away.

He added Irish and European farmers could not be told to use fewer pesticides and respect biodiversity when trade deals were being made with countries not subjected to "decent environmental, labor and product standards."

In June, before the furor over the rainforest began, the Irish Farmers Association called on Ireland not to ratify the deal, arguing its terms would disadvantage European beef farmers.

Deal or no deal, Brazil's beef industry is projected to continue expanding, buoyed by natural resources, grassland availability and global demand, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

And, with that growth, comes steep environmental costs.

Brazil's space research center (INPE) said this week that the number of fires in Brazil is 80% higher than last year. More than half are in the Amazon region, spelling disaster for the local environment and ecology.

Alberto Setzer, a senior scientist at INPE, told CNN that the burning can range from a small-scale agricultural practice, to new deforestation for mechanized and modern agribusiness projects.

Farmers wait until the dry season to start burning and clearing areas so their cattle can graze, but this year's destruction has been described as unprecedented. Environmental campaigners blame this uptick on Bolsonaro, who they say has encouraged ranchers, farmers, and loggers to exploit and burn the rainforest like never before with a sense of impunity.

Bolsonaro has dismissed accusations of responsibility for the fires, but a clear shift seems to be underway.

And if saving the rainforest isn't enough to convince carnivores to stop eating Brazilian beef -- the greenhouse gas emissions the cattle create may be.

Beef is responsible for 41% of livestock greenhouse gas emissions, and that livestock accounts for 14.5% of total global emissions. And methane -- the greenhouse gas cattle produce from both ends -- is 25 times more potent that carbon dioxide.

An alarming report released last year by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, said changing our diets could contribute 20% of the effort needed to keep global temperatures from rising 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Namely, eating less meat.

Still, global consumption of beef and veal is set to rise in the next decade according to projections from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

A joint report predicted global production would increase 16% between 2017 and 2027 to meet demand.

The majority of that expansion will be in developing countries, like Brazil.

France's Macron calls Amazon rainforest fires an 'international crisis'

By Helen Regan and Jessie Yeung |

Updated 11:55 AM ET Published Aug 23, 2019 | CNN | Posted August 23, 2019 12:57 PM ET |

(CNN) - French President Emmanuel Macron has angered his Brazilian counterpart by calling the wildfires blazing in the Amazon rainforest an "international crisis" that should be on the agenda at the G7 summit in Biarritz.

"Our house is burning. Literally. The Amazon rain forest -- the lungs of our planet which produces 20% of our oxygen -- is on fire. It is an international crisis," Macron tweeted Thursday.

"Members of the G7 Summit, let's discuss this emergency first order in two days!" he said, adding the hashtag #ActForTheAmazon.

On Friday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reiterated Macron's stance and said that international cooperation is needed to protect rainforests.

A Downing Street spokesperson told CNN that Johnson believes that "we need international action to protect the world's rainforests" and he "will use G7 to call for a renewed focus on protecting nature and tackling climate change together."

Earlier, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that he would be ready to block a trade deal between the European Union and South American trade bloc MERCOSUR unless Brazil acted on the Amazon.

Brazil's far-right president Jair Bolsonaro blasted Macron's offer as "sensationalist" and accused him of using the fires for "political gain."

"I regret that President Macron is seeking to instrumentalize an internal issue in Brazil and in other Amazonian countries for personal political gains," Bolsonaro tweeted.

"The suggestion of the French president that Amazonian issues be discussed in the G7 without countries in the region participating is reminiscent of a colonial mindset inappropriate in the 21st century," he said in a second tweet.

The G7 nations are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US.

Brazil's space research center (INPE) said this week that the country has seen an 85% increase in fires this year, compared with the same period last year. More than half were in the Amazon region, spelling disaster for the local environment and ecology.

And 99% percent of the fires result from human actions "either on purpose or by accident," said Alberto Setzer, a senior scientist at INPE. The burning can range from a small-scale agricultural practice, to new deforestation for a mechanized and modern agribusiness project, Setzer told CNN by email.

Environmental organizations and researchers say the wildfires were set by cattle ranchers and loggers who want to clear and utilize the land, emboldened by the country's pro-business president.

Amnesty International on Thursday said responsibility for the fires "lies squarely with President Bolsonaro and his government," adding that his government's "disastrous policy of opening up the rainforest for destruction (is) what has paved the way for this current crisis."

In a Facebook Live video Thursday, Bolsonaro suggested multiple parties -- including ranchers, NGOs and indigenous communities -- could be to blame.

"Who carries this out? I don't know. Farmers, NGOs, whoever it may be, Indians, whoever it may be," Bolsonaro said. He went on to say there are "suspicions" that ranchers are behind the forest fires and appealed to the Brazilian people to "help us" combat the blazes.

'LOOKING AT UNTOLD DESTRUCTION'

The Amazon is the largest tropical rainforest in the world and accounts for at least 10% of the planet's biodiversity.

It's home to huge numbers of mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles -- 75% of which are unique to the Amazon. A new plant or animal species is discovered there every two days.

But the forest and its inhabitants are facing an unparalleled threat from deforestation -- 20% of the Amazon biome has already been lost to mining, logging, farming, hydropower dams and roads, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

Deforestation accelerated more than 60% in June 2019 over the same period last year, INPE's data shows. The Amazon lost 769 square kilometres, a stark increase from the 488 sq km lost in June 2018. That equates to an area of rainforest larger than one-and-a-half soccer fields being destroyed every minute each day.

The Amazon forest also produces about 20% of the world's oxygen and is often called "the planet's lungs."

Before the fires, land conversion and deforestation caused the Amazon to release up to 0.5 billion metric tons of carbon per year, according to the WWF. Depending on the damage from the fires, that release would increase, accelerating climate change.

"The Amazon is incredibly important for our future, for our ability to stave off the worst of climate change," said Christian Poirier, the program director of non-profit organization Amazon Watch. "This isn't hyperbole. We're looking at untold destruction — not just of the Amazon but for our entire planet."

ENVIRONMENTALISTS ARE BLAMING BOLSONARO

More than two-thirds of the Amazon are located in Brazil and environmental groups accuse Bolsonaro, who has previously said he is not "Captain Chainsaw," of relaxing environmental controls in the country and encouraging deforestation.

When running for president, Bolsonaro made campaign promises to restore the economy by exploring the Amazon's economic potential. Now, environmental organizations say he has encouraged ranchers, farmers, and loggers to exploit and burn the rainforest like never before with a sense of impunity.

The pro-business Bolsonaro has hamstrung Brazil's environmental enforcement agency with budget cuts amounting to $23 million -- official data sent to CNN by Observatorio do Clima shows the enforcement agency's operations have fallen since Bolsonaro was sworn in.

The director of Brazil's space research center INPE was recently fired after defending satellite images that showed deforestation was 88% higher in June than a year earlier -- data which Bolsonaro characterized as "lies."

"The vast majority of these fires are human-lit," said Amazon Watch's Poirier, adding that even during dry seasons, the Amazon -- a humid rainforest -- doesn't catch on fire easily, unlike the dry bushland in California or Australia.

Farmers and ranchers have long used fire to clear land, said Poirier, and are likely behind the unusually large number fires burning in the Amazon today.

This year's fires fit with an established seasonal agricultural pattern, said CNN meteorologist Haley Brink. "It's the best time to burn because the vegetation is dry. (Farmers) wait for the dry season and they start burning and clearing the areas so that their cattle can graze. And that's what we're suspecting is going on down there."

[jhavelikes]

In terms of individual action, moving to a more plant-based diet is one of the single most effective ways to reduce emissions, but the UK government appears to be unwilling to put the science on this issue into policy. It quickly deleted research alongside its net zero strategy that encouraged levies on high-carbon foods, such as meat. None of the presidents of the UK’s four farming unions present at Cop26 believe they should reduce livestock numbers in their respective countries, or that people need to reduce their meat consumption. They told the Guardian methane emissions could be dealt with through new technologies rather than reducing the number of cows on farms. Thomas Vilsack, the US secretary of agriculture says he believes Americans can carry on eating the same amount of meat while keeping the world within safe limits on global heating.

[eurekakinginc]

"Meat Companies Could Face $11 Billion Carbon Tax Bill. The report titled The Livestock Levy: Update report*, was produced by FAIRR, a global network of investors managing over $20 trillion of assets."- Detail: https://ift.tt/31AfiCU. Title by: Wagamaga Posted By: www.eurekaking.com

[we-future-first]

Meat Companies Could Face $11 Billion Carbon Tax Bill. The report titled The Livestock Levy: Update report*, was produced by FAIRR, a global network of investors managing over $20 trillion of assets.

submitted by /u/Wagamaga [link] [comments]

source https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/hjd9fw/meat_companies_could_face_11_billion_carbon_tax/

[jeetjagani]

Meat Companies Could Face $11 Billion Carbon Tax Bill. The report titled The Livestock Levy: Update report*, was produced by FAIRR, a global network of investors managing over $20 trillion of assets. via /r/Futurology https://ift.tt/2BZi4ao

[sciencespies]

The Amazon is burning at a record rate, and the devastation can be seen from space

https://sciencespies.com/environment/the-amazon-is-burning-at-a-record-rate-and-the-devastation-can-be-seen-from-space/

The Amazon is burning at a record rate, and the devastation can be seen from space

The “lungs of the planet” are burning.

As thousands of fiery infernos rage across the Amazon rainforest, tropical vegetation, trees, and the fauna they house are being razed. Since August 15, more than 9,500 new forest fires have started across Brazil, primarily in the Amazon basin.

This year so far, scientists have recorded more than 74,000 fires in Brazil. That’s nearly double 2018’s total of about 40,000 fires. The surge marks an 83 percent increase in wildfires over the same period of 2018, Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research reported. The largest state in Brazil, Amazonas, declared a state of emergency on Monday.

Already, 2019 has the highest number of fires observed in a single year since researchers began keeping track in 2013 – and there are still four months to go.

Satellite image of the burning rainforest on August 12. (NOAA)

‘The sky randomly turned dark’

As the world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon plays a crucial role in keeping our planet’s carbon-dioxide levels in check. Plants and trees take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen back into the air in their process of photosynthesis.

This is why the Amazon, which covers 2.1 million square miles, is often referred to as the “lungs of the planet”: The forest produces 20 percent of the oxygen in our planet’s atmosphere.

Typically, the Amazonian dry season runs from July to October, peaking in late September. Wetter weather during the rest of the year minimizes the risk of fires at other times.

But during the dry season, blazes can spark from natural sources, like lightning strikes. Farmers and loggers also purposefully set fire to the rainforest to clear swaths of the Amazon for industrial or agricultural use.

The fires raging in the Amazon now have widespread effects on the rest of Brazil. The smoke plumes from the blazes spread from the state of Amazonas to the nearby states of Pará and Mato Grosso, and even blotted out the sun in São Paulo – a city more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) away.

🌎Just a little alert to the world: the sky randomly turned dark today in São Paulo, and meteorologists believe it’s smoke from the fires burning *thousands* of kilometers away, in Rondônia or Paraguay. Imagine how much has to be burning to create that much smoke(!). SOS🌎 pic.twitter.com/P1DrCzQO6x

— Shannon Sims (@shannongsims) August 20, 2019

On Monday, people in São Paulo reported on social media that the sky had gone dark between 3 and 4 pm local time.

The Amazon rainforest has been on fire for weeks, and it’s so bad it’s literally blotting out the sun miles away https://t.co/oDjcECJVgp

— Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) August 20, 2019

In total, the blazes have created a layer of smoke estimated to be 1.2 million square miles wide. This image from the European Union’s Copernicus Satellite shows the smoke slicing north to south through Brazil like a knife.

From the other side of Earth, here’s the latest on the Amazonia fires 🌳

Produced by @CopernicusEU‘s atmosphere monitoring service, it shows the smoke reaching the Atlantic coast and São Paulo 🇧🇷

DATA HERE▶️https://t.co/Q6qzFdPfIT pic.twitter.com/aJKU2YwRpJ

— WMO | OMM (@WMO) August 20, 2019

‘Setting the Amazon aflame’

This week of fires comes on the heels of another worrisome milestone for the world’s largest rainforest. The month of July set a new record for the most deforestation ever in the Amazon in a single month, The Guardian reported.

The Amazon shrunk by 519 square miles (1,345 square kilometers). That’s more than twice the area of Tokyo.

Data from Brazilian satellites indicated that about three football fields’ worth of Amazonian trees fell every minute last month. The total deforested area in July was up 39 percent from the same month last year.

The deforestation is directly linked to fires in the Amazon, since farmers sometimes set the forest ablaze to make room for livestock pastures and crop fields. These purposeful burns can then get out of control.

Brazil controls a lion’s share of the Amazon. However, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has indicated that protecting the rainforest is not one of his top priorities. Bolsonaro supports development projects like a highway and hydroelectric dam in the Amazon.

His administration has also cut down on the seizing of illegally harvested timber. In 2018 (under the previous administration), 883,000 cubic feet of illegal timber was seized. As of May 15, Bolsonaro’s government agencies had seized only 1,410 cubic feet, Pacific Standard reported.

What’s more, between January and May, Bolsonaro’s government lowered the number of fines it levied for illegal deforestation and mining (down 34 percent from the same period in 2018) and decreased its monitoring of illegal activity in the rainforest.

On Tuesday, when Reuters reporters asked Bolsonaro about the record rate of uncontrolled fires in Brazil, he pointed to the fact that it’s a time of year when farmers purposefully use fire to clear land – a seasonal cycle called “queimada.”

“I used to be called Captain Chainsaw. Now I am Nero, setting the Amazon aflame,” Bolsonaro said. “But it is the season of the queimada.”

Part of the rainforest burned by loggers and farmers on August 20. (REUTERS/Bruno Kelly)

Warmer, drier conditions make it easier for flames to spread

Warmer conditions because of climate change can allow blazes that crop up during the dry season to grow bigger than they otherwise might have. Global warming also increases the likelihood and frequency of wildfires around the world.

Overall, this year is on pace to be the third hottest on record globally, according to Climate Central. Last year was the fourth warmest, behind 2016 (the warmest), 2015, and 2017.

Hot and dry conditions in the Northern Hemisphere are a consequence of this unprecedented warming. That’s because warming leads winter snow cover to melt earlier, and hotter air sucks away the moisture from trees and soil. Decreased rainfall also makes for parched forests that are prone to burning.

Combined, that has created ideal conditions for wildfires in Brazil and elsewhere around the world.

As of today, parts of British Columbia, Canada, and Alaska are also burning, while more than 13.5 million acres of Siberia are ablaze too.

This article was originally published by Business Insider.

More from Business Insider:

#Environment

[blog-mcc]

RURAL AMERICA – WE ARE HERE!

Our Big Sky Watershed Corps members live and work all across Montana. Here is a passionate description of the culture and lifestyle of rural America - Petroleum County in Central Montana written by Laura Nowlin, the coordinator for the Musselshell Watershed Coalition, which hosted its first Big Sky Watershed Corps member in 2013.  Our BSWC members provide critical capacity to rural areas.  Now hosting its ninth and tenth members, the MWC has come to rely on the fresh perspectives and energy that BSWC members bring to their projects.  These members live in Winnett, where local residents now know about the BSWC program and members are a regular part of the community.

Photo Credit: Levi Nowlin

Reprinted from www.PrairiePopulist.org, by Laura Nowlin, January 23, 2019

I have read several stories recently that make life in rural America seem pretty dismal – the population is aging and decreasing, everyone is poorly educated and addicted to drugs, and the land is either not accessible to the public, or it is being destroyed by crops and cows. I wonder how much time those journalists spent in rural America before they wrote those stories? Any places that matter take a time investment to understand. Well, I haven’t just visited the “flyover” states, I live here – five generations of my family have lived in the same central Montana county. I can’t speak for all of rural America, but I can speak about this place and I would like to challenge the stereotype.

My husband and I have two children and we chose to raise them in rural America. We left good paying “regular” jobs to live and work in the country. We read a lot of children’s books and one of our favorites is Horton Hears a Who. I think often of those Whos and how they united to yell as loud as they could, “We are here! We are here! We are here!” for someone to hear them.

There aren’t many of us out here – 500 people in all of Petroleum County. We are spread out, and we work full-time jobs, sometimes several jobs. We are mostly farmers and ranchers, teachers, and local government staff. We are not journalists, marketing directors, or graphic designers – it is hard to gather together to be loud enough to tell our own story. But, we have a story to tell. It’s not perfect and there are improvements to be made, for sure, but it is not so dismal as you might read in the New York Times. We love where we live, we work with our neighbors to keep our communities going, and we care about the land and our livestock.

Photo Credit: Reba Ahlgren

WE ARE HERE: WE ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT THE LAND

We are here, we have been here, and we would like to stay here. The Northern Great Plains – the grasslands and the breaks – are our home. We live on the prairie – an unforgiving, wonderful, crazy place. My great-great aunt used to say, “This country takes and it takes, and then, in one year, it gives it all back.” Mother Nature offers up the most inspiring moments, and the most devastating, and when you live with the land, you experience it all. You develop an appreciation for the land that comes from shared experiences.

And those experiences are shared with your neighbors as well. You develop a bond with those people stronger than can be described. It’s a bond that when there is a death in the community, 300 people attend the funeral – the only space large enough is the school gymnasium.

Most of us in rural central Montana are lucky enough to live, work, and play where our homes are. We think we are the luckiest people on earth and we would like to share it with anyone who wants to come visit. But, we want you to understand it when you come. In our little slice of paradise, we get 13 inches of precipitation per year. Santa Fe gets 14. The average for the United States is 39 inches per year. So, unless you are from the desert southwest, we are going to look a little bit like a desert. We all know that the majority of this precious precipitation needs to come from April to June to get everything growing. So, when you come to visit, ask how much rain and snow we’ve had and when it came so you can understand if we are having a wet or dry year – which makes all the difference.

We are passionate about our land. This includes the public land where we graze our cattle and the private land that has sometimes been in families for over 100 years. Most of Petroleum County is grassland or the Missouri River Breaks – land that is not suitable for growing crops, so instead, most of us raise cattle.

Photo Credit: Laura Nowlin

The grasslands evolved with grazers. The two are codependent on each other and the grasslands need a large herbivore grazing it just as much as the cattle need the grasslands. When a cow grazes, she chomps off part of the plant, which allows it to regrow. When a plant does not have the opportunity to regrow, it becomes decadent – old growth dies and clogs out any chance for new growth to happen. The wildlife, such as deer and antelope, don’t graze this old, dead grass. Cattle hooves break up plants and create litter that covers the ground – this catches water and also helps plants to regrow. And, finally, cows poop and pee – the best form of natural (and free!) fertilization out there. Grazing is part of the whole system that enhances both the soils and everything that is below ground, as well as the grasses and other plants above ground.

Ranchers provide, “ecosystem services.” This means that when we use good land management practices, we provide benefits to the land from which all of society benefits. Healthy grasslands, which can be achieved through cattle grazing, provide ecosystem services like carbon sequestration, water filtration and water storage, open spaces, and wildlife habitat. The beauty of using cattle to graze the grasslands is that they can be managed to address the needs of the land. For example, a noxious weed infestation can be grazed at a certain time of year to get it under control. Where build-up of plant material has happened, grazing that build-up can keep fire danger managed to a more natural level. Studies of grassland songbirds have shown that some of these birds need short grasses, and even prefer bare ground, at certain times of the year. Ranchers can graze their cattle through pastures on a rotation that benefits these declining bird populations.

Ranching on public lands saves money for the government. The Bureau of Land Management spends $2 per acre for the lands that ranchers use, but it spends $5 per acre to maintain ungrazed land.

But, don’t take my word for it – come to see these things for yourself. We welcome you to our private lands. Just because they are private, does not mean that they are inaccessible. A neighbor once told me, “I consider myself fortunate to have private land and consider it my responsibility to offer access to it to those who are not able to have their own.”

Photo Credit: Reba Ahlgren

WE ARE HERE: WE ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT OUR COMMUNITIES.

“I don’t think that people understand how passionate we are about our communities,” one of my neighbors recently told me. Our tiny community of 500 (ages 4 months to 102) volunteered 8,736 hours in 2018.[1] These hours were spent on county commissions, town councils, school boards, conservation district boards, ambulance, fire, search and rescues, sheriff’s reserve, and on and on.  Imagine serving on an ambulance crew when you know that most of the calls will be for someone that you know.

We are part of the two percent of the population producing food for the other 98 percent. Tax dollars support farmers and ranchers through cost share programs that help provide range improvements for both livestock and wildlife. These best management practices not only help ranchers with risk management, but also contribute to making food everywhere more affordable. These tax dollars amount to less than ½ of 1 percent of the total US budget.[2] In Petroleum County alone, our 105 agricultural operations produce enough beef to feed 127,745 people for one year.[3]

We are passionate about our children. The Winnett School is a Blue Ribbon award-winning school. The school’s food program has also won awards, and, most recently, local ranchers have begun donating beef to the school so that we know where our children’s beef comes from. The high school graduation rate is 98%.

Photo Credit: Laura Nowlin

There is also plenty to do. My children take guitar and piano lessons in Winnett on Mondays, they play basketball on Tuesdays, they go to “Kids’ Club” at the church on Thursdays, and they are 4-H members – and they are only six and eight years old. When they aren’t busy with social and school activities, they help us on the ranch. They have put out and picked up miles and miles of electric fence. They are learning about hard work, caring for animals, and nurturing the land by getting outside and doing it.  Come visit and you too can do some fencing.

When you do, we’ll take you to the school. Grades kindergarten through 12 are all under the same roof.  The Technology Education teacher will show you his 3D printer, plasma cutter, welders, and wood shop. You’ll see the school-community library with computer and internet access for patrons. Come on a Friday or Saturday night and you’ll see the gymnasium packed for basketball games.

Since 2010, our community has grown by 5.9 percent, which is more than Park and Ravalli Counties in trendy western Montana. There are young people returning home, and new people coming to the area, at a high rate. This is something that I hear about in our neighboring communities as well. Winnett and the northern part of the county have fiber optics. We have access to the highest speed internet of anyone in the entire United States. When you visit, you won’t have cell service, but you can stream any YouTube video that you want (well, not any, but we can talk about that when you get here).

Photo Credit: Brenda Brady

WE ARE HERE: WE ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT OUR FUTURE

We are a tight-knit community that cares about the land and each other. We are busy with our businesses, volunteering in the community, and raising the next generation of people who will steward the land, provide food, work hard, and contribute to something larger than themselves. Come visit.  Don’t just drive through or stop for lunch, really visit. We are happy to show you our land, our ranches, and our communities. Then, maybe you will call with us, “We are here!”

If you would like to visit a ranch in central Montana, contact the Fergus /Petroleum County Extension Office at 406-535-3919 or fergus@montana.edu.

Laura Nowlin is a wife and mother of two, working, living, and playing on a little piece of paradise in central Montana, north of the town of Winnett. She and her husband ranch. She is also a part-time coordinator for the Musselshell Watershed Coalition. Between the two of them, they serve in seven community groups. Laura is a board member of the Winnett ACES (Agricultural Community Enhancement and Sustainability).

http://prairiepopulist.org/rural-america-laura-nowlin/

[snapzulife]

Parliament must “seriously consider” levying a tax on meat to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help to render the farming industry carbon neutral, the Green party MP, Caroline Lucas, is urging. She will say on Friday that a meat tax in the UK could be offset for more sustainable meat producers, such as organic livestock farmers, through more money for sustainable agriculture schemes. via Snapzu : Life & Personal Interests

[snapzubusiness]

Parliament must “seriously consider” levying a tax on meat to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help to render the farming industry carbon neutral, the Green party MP, Caroline Lucas, is urging. She will say on Friday that a meat tax in the UK could be offset for more sustainable meat producers, such as organic livestock farmers, through more money for sustainable agriculture schemes. via Snapzu : Business & Economy