Àmbit: Global change

A 70% of rice paddies in low-income countries are expected to suffer further yield reduction, compared to 52% in middle and high-income countries. Image: Rice paddy in Thailand, by Eduardo Prim, Unsplash.
News @en

High CO2 concentration in the atmosphere impoverishes rice farmland

The high concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere reduces by more than 20% the availability of phosphorus in rice paddies worldwide, an indispensable fertiliser mineral. This puts countries with low purchasing power at a disadvantage in terms of the cost of phosphorus fertiliser, and further widens economic inequality due to CO2 emissions and impacts on geochemical processes.

The Bayan Obo mine in Inner Mongolia (China) contains a large amount of rare earth minerals. Source: REUTERS (2011).
News @en

Humans milk the periodic table turning a blind eye to its risks

For millions of years, nature has basically been getting by with just a few elements from the periodic table. However, to build the world of humans we need many more. A new article analyses the reasons and consequences of this divergence.

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