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Unprecedented plagues and diseases are threatening crops across the globe, and the results could be disastrous according to scientists.

Bananas are one such crop that has fallen victim to a variety of bugs and fungal infections, which are spreading so rapidly that the government in Costa Rica, one of the biggest suppliers of the fruit, has already declared a “national emergency”, amidst serious concerns that the country would not be able to meet its export obligations.

Plagues of mealybugs and scale insects have decimated over 20% of the crop yield; the insects weaken plants and cause blemishes on fruit, rendering them useless for the retailer and consequently causing huge batches to be written off.
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A new report released last week by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has further highlighted the fact that emissions of greenhouse gases worldwide have risen to unprecedented levels, despite an increasing number of global measures to reduce climate change.

The report indicates that emissions increased more rapidly in the decade spanning between 2000 and 2010 than in each of the previous three decades, and states that it would require a dramatic shift towards renewable energies in order to reverse the worrying trend.
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Unexpectedly rapid melting of polar ice and glaciers between 2005 and 2011 caused a rise in global sea levels of another 2/3rds of an inch, according to a study just published in Nature Geoscience. Increased water pressure against continental shelves is known to lead to destabilization of faults as well as compression of magma deposits under volcanoes, and is related to increased seismic and volcanic activity. So far, sea levels have now risen 8 1/3rd inches worldwide since 1870, with the rate of annual increase steadily rising. At the same time, the amount of volcanic and earthquake activity around the Pacific Rim appears to have begun to increase as well. As ice melts, the balance of weight on the earth changes, releasing weight from melt areas and moving it into the oceans.read more