The Stream, June 1: Drought in China

Food prices for staple crops such as maize will more than double by 2030, and the world will enter a permanent food crisis, charity Oxfam warns in a new report that also calls for European countries to abandon subsidies and higher production targets for biofuels.

China Drought
Shanghai is facing the longest dry spell in 138 years and will witness unusually high temperatures over the coming summer months, according to a Shanghai Municipal Meteorological Bureau report.

The drought in central and eastern China is a jarring reminder that China relies on increasingly strained water resources for its growing population and rapidly increasing hydropower schemes, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, Global Times reports that China loses a total of 6 billion cubic meters of tap water a year through leaky pipes.

Shale Gas
The company behind the Blackpool shale gas testing site in northwestern England has suspended drilling following a 1.5 magnitude tremor, the BBC reports.

The state of New York will sue the United States over what it says are inadequate environmental regulations for natural gas drilling in the Delaware River Basin, Bloomberg reports.

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