Garden Statues Picking garden decorations to your raise lawn

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Source: http://xinshang18.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-49.html

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Consuming PPC for Effective Marketing | The Empower Network and ...

Saturday, July 28th, 2012 at 10:54 am ?

Can there be anybody available to explore how you can boost the sales and leads at lower cost using Google advertising in addition to Google ad words report for small company.

Here a few of the Tips and tactics offered for just about any kind of Internet entrepreneurs. You will find plenty internet marketing services readily available for online companies nowadays which assist in improving profits.

Only one fundamental factor you should be seen is the fact online businesses should have an online business to be capable of be known within the global market.

PPC is actually well seem within the area of online marketing because it provides the site proprietors to link to the marketers in addition to search engines like Google to obtain and share the earnings based on number.

Which people are searching to focus on for that additional clients and improve your business? Surely the reply is here to achieve our goal objectives with the expert PPC Services.

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Apparently PPC management allows you receive on the top from the search engines like Google only for the particular business potential keywords and phrases. Within the problem of coping with advertisements everything might be deduced and modified instantly.

Coping with PPC only have only less works but need to concentrate much more about the important thing phrases since only keywords and phrases will blink rather than the particular ad space to draw the customers to buy the needed product.

It might be highly convenient with PPC to focus on clients demographically otherwise according to their company?s interests. The job of PPC management is very apparent yet it certainly requires right disclosure, right method and proper time.

Likewise we could condition the PPC advertising is probably the fastest growing reasons for online marketing business that result worthy for the entrepreneurs, website entrepreneurs too for that search engines like Google.

One factor we must consider is always that it is vital to know that things that work good for starters customer may not gel to function as same for other.

Once we take proper care of PPC management you need to strictly possess a personalized approach to take proper care of the how to go about your business.

Thus to enhance the rank of the adverts, you need to have to know the dynamism of Pay per click adequately. For that purpose we must understand how a PPC marketing technique can improve your website?s position in addition to increase its traffic flow.

Tagged with: google ppc ? Online Business ? pay per click ? PPC ? PPC advertising ? ppc management ? ppc management services ? PPC marketing ? ppc services ? what is ppc

Filed under: Online Business

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Source: http://empower-network-review-site.com/consuming-ppc-for-effective-marketing/

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Solutions offered By Business Consultancy Firms

This article has been viewed 17 times.

Every business owner ought to create new methods to operate business procedures smoothly. They hire business consultants, as that point of view outside the box can be useful. Numerous companies these days hire companies providing services such as small business management consulting to further improve internal management and operations.

As not all business owners have the essential educational background to know exactly how the business works, suggestions from a seasoned and knowledgeable party expert could be important. If you examine internet sites giving consulting services, you can find numerous professionals who could help with certain aspects of your company.

If you are a small business proprietor, selecting the expertise of a third party may pose a challenge. You might not have enough funds to invest for outside guidance. This applies even more if youre just getting started with your business. Its a good thing there are business consulting companies that concentrate on small businesses. With their knowledge and guidance, you may save a good amount of funds and make sure you get specialized counsel.

What kind of Business Consultant Should You Acquire?

Prior to getting a company providing small business management consulting , consider the tenure of the firm. This may reflect just how long theyve been practicing their expertise. A lot of consultants have certifications from prestigious business schools. Some can even be corporate executives themselves. If you wish to ensure about your consultants expertise, pick one with a consulting company.

One more element you must think of when searching for a good business consulting company is actually experience. While its true a diploma from a top rated business school may be spectacular, nothing compares to firsthand experience. Some successful corporate executives and entrepreneurs provide consultation quietly.

Business consultancy firms could have a specialized niche of business scale or industry. Some business techniques may work well in defined industries for companies with a specific size. If its possible, look for a consultant with expertise of at least experience handling a firm using the same type as yours.

Evaluate your consultants record of accomplishment. Check if their business consulting services were good at the past. Try to find an advisor or consultant with a high success rate. This can be the only thing you need for your business to take off.

One thing you need to consider is the sort of field your consultant is in. There are those who are useful in arranging systems and improving employee productivity while other professionals are better off proposing ideas for expansion along with other ways of implementation. Hire a consultant who specializes on the aspect in your business you need improvement on.

Consultants will still make reference to other businesses. Though this may offer a general viewpoint and help you comprehend your firm, there might be cases where theres conflict of interest. They can not be as concentrated to your case as they are along with other clients. Make sure you get a loyal advisor.

Small business management consulting does not lessen the risk of establishing your own business. Additionally they dont help eliminate your competition. The best thing they may do is present noteworthy counsel. In the long run, tough business decisions still depend upon you.

Source: http://www.article-i.com/business/solutions-offered-by-business-consultancy-firms/

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Saborio makes sure Real Salt Lake tops Vancouver

Associated Press Sports

updated 12:32 a.m. ET July 28, 2012

SANDY, Utah (AP) - Alvaro Saborio scored two more goals to push Real Salt Lake within a point of the MLS lead.

Saborio scored in both halves in Real Salt Lake's 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 on Friday night, giving him six of the team's seven goals in the last four games.

"He's so important for our team," RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman said. "It's not only the goals that he scores, it's the other stuff he does. When he scores, it's big time for us."

Salt Lake improved to 13-7-3 with its third straight home victory to move within a point of Western Conference rival San Jose for the best record in the league.

"He's so important for our team," RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman said. "It's not only the goals that he scores, it's the other stuff he does. When he scores, it's big time for us."

Darren Mattocks scored for Vancouver (9-7-7), winless in five of its last six matches.

"There's still time for us to make sure we're in the right spot," Vancouver defender Jay DeMerit said. "That's the ultimate goal for us as a team. If we keep doing what we're doing, we'll get there. But, again, it comes down to us in making sure it happens."

Saborio opened the scoring the 34th minute on a penalty kick that he slotted inside the left post. The penalty kick came after Jay DeMerit committed a hard foul on Beckerman in the box in the 33rd minute and was shown a yellow card.

Mattocks tied it in the 52nd minute. Camilo put a ball behind the RSL defenders and Mattocks beat them to it. Goalkeeper Rimando came off his line to stop Mattocks on the right side of the area, but the Vancouver player slipped around Rimando and fired the ball inside the left post.

Barry Robson nearly put Vancouver ahead a minute later, but his shot ricocheted off the post.

Saborio struck again in the 58th minute. Javier Morales sent a cross from the right flank to Saborio at the upper left corner of the 6-yard box, and he jumped and headed the ball home.

"I'm pleased to see Sabo scoring goals because, for a long time, he was doing everything and he was getting very unfortunate (results)," RSL coach Jason Kreis said. "It's good he's in a good run and we'll try to ride it as long as possible."

Vancouver goalkeeper Joe Cannon was shown a red card when he committed a handball infraction outside the area in the 76th minute. Cannon will miss the Whitecaps' next game as a result.

Vancouver threw just about every player forward during long stretches of the second half and forced RSL to deal with several dangerous defensive situations.

"That's our bread and butter on this team," RSL defender Nat Borchers said. "When we stick to that, and we stay together as a unit defensively, we always have good results."

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Terry not off hook in racism case

PST: The British courts have had their say on the alleged John Terry ugliness, but now England?s FA will have something more to say about it.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/48365486/ns/sports-soccer/

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Writer Unboxed ? 'Social' Media: Your Shadow Career?

?

Sometimes, when we?re terrified of embracing our true calling, we?ll pursue a shadow calling instead.

And how does a shadow career relate to a real career?

That shadow career is a metaphor for our real career.

Something that supports what I meant to do. Good training? Yes, it sure is. This will come in handy. After all, I have to prepare, lay some groundwork, ramp up, get my eye on the prize, reach out, share, connect, engage, interact, throw around some more clich?s. Because it wasn?t built in a day, was it?

Its shape is similar, its contours feel tantalizingly the same.

Doing it. Getting it done. Hitting my marks. As good as.

But a shadow career entails no real risk.

So I can fail at it. You can, too. No problem. We?re all supportive. And you know how much they talk about the value of failure. Best thing that could happen, from the sounds of it.

Are you pursuing a shadow career?

Steven Pressfield is a favorite of mine. That?s him I?m quoting, from his new book.

But he may have written an even more elusive, eloquent adumbration into his new book than he knew.

About us. His fellow writers.

Pressfield?s new book is Turning Pro: Tap Your Inner Power and Create Your Life?s Work, just out this summer. I?ve listed it in Reading on the Ether for a while. It?s not coming off that list any time soon.

I wish I liked the title better. Sounds like one of those Brian Tracy biz books, doesn?t it? Maximum Achievement: Strategies and Skills That Will Unlock Your Hidden Powers to Succeed. Or Reinvention: How to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life. Always with the subtitles. Always with the inspi-vational implication that you have to belieeeeeeeeve in yourself, Lena Horne.

Nothing against Brian Tracy, by the way. I just counted 25 different success-o-rama books to his name on Amazon before I stopped. And he?s not bad, have you ever read him? When that?s what you need, Brian?s your guy.

Steve Pressfield? Very different animal.

Just to be sure, you do get his concept about a ?shadow career,? don?t you? Here he is again with a couple of good examples:

Are you getting your Ph.D. in Elizabethan studies because you?re afraid to write the tragedies and comedies that you know you have inside you? Are you living the drugs-and-booze half of the musician?s life, without actually writing the music?

OK, so we get this. And we know he?s right.

Just to stave off the question I have for you a little longer, let me say a couple of things about Pressfield. Man, do I love this guy.

Pressfield wrote a predecessor to Turning Pro, and I?d be surprised if you?re not familiar with it: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles.

I hope you?ve read it. Released in 2002. Ten years ago. Be sure to appreciate the title?s play on his work in military-historical novels. Art of War. War of Art. Sweet.

If you ever have to command a few legions of your own, you want Pressfield?s cell number.

In The War of Art, he introduced his concept of Resistance, capital R. Everything short of doing your work is Resistance. Your own insecurities will costume themselves in about a million guises to keep you from achieving what you set out to do. It?s a constant battle. Which adds up to war. That?s Resistance. It wants to stop you (your own doubts want to stop you) from doing the work.

In fact, when Pressfield did a sort of recap of the War of Art last year, he titled it Do the Work. He published it on Amazon with Seth Godin?s Domino Project, which is why the title doesn?t appear on the cover. Godin thought this was clever and made it a consistent feature of books published under the short-lived Domino aegis.

An aside for Godin-ites: Without any reference to Seth whatever, mind you, Pressfield in his new Turning Pro has a couple of interesting tribal references. Including:

When we truly understand that the tribe doesn?t give a damn, we?re free. There is no tribe, and there never was.

Unlike Do the Work, Turning Pro is no recap.

It?s full-on Pressfield 10 years later. Smarter, more refined. More focused. Authoritative. Self-published, by the way.

And it?s Pressfield, I think, chased by a couple of maturing shadows of his own, after several more books and the Glory of our Digital Disruption, which I hope you?re enjoying as much as I am.

Mind you, I don?t know Pressfield as well as I?d like. We?ve had a couple of emails back and forth but no chance to meet. I?d love it if we did. This is one of the people you want to have dinner with sometime.

But a shadow of his own? OK, here?s my guess:

It?s damned hard to get Pressfield?s readership for Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae to ?come on out,? as they say on local TV ads, and buy his creative-struggle books. And in the same way, it?s hard to get us creative strugglers to cram copies of his mercenaries-on-the-move thriller, The Profession, into our Kindles, right? Let alone The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great.

So I wonder if it ever feels as if one line of books is a shadow to the other? I mean, yes, there?s also The Legend of Bagger Vance. Middle of the parking lot there, I guess. Did you know it has a subtitle, too? ?A Novel of Golf and the Game of Life.? Steve, Steve, Steve, about these subtitles, remind me when we have dinner, we?ll talk.

A part of Pressfield?s appeal for me is the muscularity of his writing. Stay with me, ladies: women are more than fine with his work, don?t get me wrong, and his muse is resoundingly a she, by the way, he goes on about her as such, very clearly. In fact, you might enjoy his Last of the Amazons. It?s not about people in Seattle.

All I?m saying is there?s something beyond a warrior here. Pressfield is more a warfarer (I made that one up, don?t waste your time looking for it). I?m trying to say he has a masculine scope to his competence, a man?s perspective, a fighting spirit. It?s good.

Until he punches me in the face.

And if you read Turning Pro with your mind open and your heart on hold, you may need to check your teeth, too.

It?s that shadow career thing. Ready?

What if your author platform becomes your shadow career?

Pressfield doesn?t ask you that. I do.

What if our fine gurus and mentors and big shots and digitally maddened industry leaders trying to hang on for their pensions have whipped everybody up about platforming so much that writers are turning it into their excuse, their surrogate vocation, their addiction, their Resistance, their shadow career? ? the preoccupation to doing the real thing?

Pressfield:

The addiction becomes the shadow version, the evil twin of our calling to service or to art. That?s why addicts are so interesting and so boring at the same time. They?re interesting because they?re called to something ? something new, something unique, something that we, watching, can?t wait to see them bring forth into manifestation. At the same time, they?re boring because they never do the work.

Start talking platform around writers. What do you hear? Endless complaints about how much time it?s taking, so much energy, a creative time-suck, publicity recast as connection, aspirations transmuted into service-to-community, a following you hope to God becomes a readership, reciprocity hailed as professionalism?and the last time anybody can remember doing any writing? ? it was their grocery list.

My life used to be a shadow novel. It had plot, characters, sex scenes, action scenes. It had mood, atmosphere, texture. It was scary, it was weird, it was exciting. I had friends who were living out shadow movies, or creating shadow art, or initiating shadow industries. These were our addictions, and we worked them for all they were worth.

One of the intriguing things about Pressfield, both in The War of Art and now in Turning Pro, is his willingness to tell you with aching honesty that he?s been there ahead of you.

There was only one problem: none of us was writing a real novel, or painting a real painting, or starting a real business. We were amateurs living in the past or dreaming of the future, while failing utterly to do the work necessary to progress in the present.

And that?s why we all need to rethink, every day, where we are with things.

• Are we going where we think we?re going? Or are we addicted to being on a parallel track?
• Are we building readership and bona fide community around our ideas and our art? Or are we gassing our best energies out into the Zuckersphere?
• Are our platforms supporting our work? Or has our work become the rationale for the platforms?

You may be fine on all counts. I hope you are. I hope I am. Because, you know, any good idea ? and I?m not saying that platforming is the wrong idea, far from it ? but any good idea can be overpowered by our zeal to support it, nourish it, bolster it?and, as Pressfield is warning us, to get away from the harder stuff, our artistry.

The only thing tougher than the dreaded work-life balance issue may be work-platform.

Steven Pressfield

Our platforms are, in most cases, built and operated these days, of course, in the social media (still a plural word, damn it). That?s a feature of each column I do here at Writer Unboxed.

So hey, I?m looking up the word ?tweet? here in Turning Pro on my Kindle Fire to see what my future dinner buddy has to say on the topic of Twitter?ah, here it is:

The amateur tweets. The pro works.

Uh-oh.

| | |

So what do you think? Ever feel as if you?re a platformer who?s trying to write a book ? instead of an author who?s trying to platform? Ever think the distractions of digital simply cannot be contained and eventually will reduce us all to sound-bitten maniacs? Ever feel as if your platform-ery is the biggest thing standing in the way of your book-ery?

Main image: iStockPhoto / sack

?

---

A late update: Anastasia Ashman, in reply to Writer Unboxed?s Therese Walsh?s grand tweet, has made this very wise comment within hours of our posting time:

I agree with her. What I want to recommend is that each of us must decide. Indeed, daily engagement might be superior for you to creating books, she?s right. I?d argue only that the important thing is to make a conscious decision on this ? as opposed, as Pressfield has it, to letting addiction and Resistance cause you to slip into something you didn?t choose.

I will put it this way to you: Decide. Don?t default.

?

@Porter_Anderson Journalist, critic| Writing on the Ether for @JaneFriedman | @DigiBookWorld Expert Blogger | @WriterUnboxed | Fmr. CNN, Village Voice, UN/Rome, | BA MA MFA http://www.PorterAnderson.com

Porter Anderson

Tags: author, author platform, novel, Porter Anderson, publisher, self-publishing, shadow career, social media, Steven Pressfield, The War of Art, Turning Pro, Twitter, writer, Writing on the Ether

Source: http://writerunboxed.com/2012/07/28/social-media-your-shadow-career/

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Can We Feed 9 Billion People by 2050 or Will We Starve?

The question of food security in the world, on account of galloping population growth, seemed to be one of the most pressing concerns at the recently concluded ESOF 2012 (Euroscience Open Forum) in Dublin.

By 2050 the global population is expected to reach 9 billion with the majority of this increase in our part of the developing world ? in Asia. In order to feed this massive number of mouths, speakers at the forum indicated that a huge rise in food production of about 50% was required. The question in everyone?s mind was, if we cant feed the starving 1 billion today how can we ramp up for the increased numbers in 2050?

Speaking to Prof Jonathan Jones FRS of Sainsbury Lab, Norwich UK, one of the foremost experts involved in the study of meeting the challenge of tackling global hunger, he said that researchers have identified many simple methods of matching the demand for food as it must match the supply, and soon the world will face the ?perfect storm? of food insecurity if we do not tackle the situation sensibly.

?Improved agronomy could make a big contribution. Increasing population and consumption are placing unprecedented demands on agriculture and natural resources. Today, approximately a billion people are chronically malnourished while our agricultural systems are concurrently degrading land, water, biodiversity and climate on a global scale. To meet the world?s future food security and sustainability needs, food production must grow substantially while, at the same time, agriculture?s environmental footprint must shrink dramatically.? He shared his study which analysed solutions to this dilemma, by showing that tremendous progress could be made by halting agricultural expansion, closing ?yield gaps? on underperforming lands, increasing cropping efficiency, shifting diets and most of all, reducing waste. ?Together, these strategies could double food production while greatly reducing the environmental impacts of agriculture,? explained Jones.

Photo: Hema Radha

Contemporary agriculture faces enormous challenges today, reveals Jones. Even with recent productivity gains, roughly one in seven people lack access to food or are chronically malnourished, stemming from unabated poverty and mounting food prices. Unfortunately, the situation may worsen as food prices are the result of market speculation, bioenergy crop expansion and climatic disturbances. Even if we solve these food access challenges, much more crop production will probably be needed to guarantee future food security. Recent studies suggest that production would need to roughly double to keep pace with projected demands from population growth, dietary changes,especially with changes in meat consumption, and increasing bio-energy use, unless there are dramatic changes in agricultural consumption patterns.

Compounding this challenge, agriculture must also address tremendous environmental concerns. ?Agriculture is now a dominant force behind many environmental threats,? said Jones, ?including climate change, biodiversity loss and degradation of land and freshwater?. In fact, agriculture is a major force driving the environment beyond the ??planetary boundaries??. Looking forward, we face one of the greatest challenges of the twenty-first century: meeting society?s growing food needs while simultaneously reducing agriculture?s environmental harm of the planet.

Using new geospatial data and models, Jones has evaluated how new approaches to agriculture could benefit both food production and environmental sustainability. ?Our analysis focuses on the agronomic and environmental aspects of these challenges, and leaves a richer discussion of associated social, economic and cultural issues to future work,? he said.

Until recently, the scientific community could not measure, monitor and analyse the agriculture, food, environment system?s complex linkages at the global scale, says Jones.

?Today, however, we have new data that characterize worldwide patterns and trends in agriculture and the environment. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, croplands cover 1.53 billion hectares (about 12% of Earth?s ice-free land), while pastures cover another 3.38 billion hectares (about 26% of Earth?s ice-free land). Altogether, agriculture occupies about 38% of Earth?s terrestrial surface?the largest use of land on the planet. These areas comprise the land best suited for farming: much of the rest is covered by deserts, mountains, tundra, cities, ecological reserves and other lands unsuitable for agriculture.?

Studies show that between 1985 and 2005 the world?s fields and pastures expanded by 154 million hectares (about 3%). But this slow net increase includes significant expansion in the tropics, as well as little change or a decrease in the temperate zone. The result is a net redistribution of agricultural land towards the tropics, with implications for food production, food security and the environment.

Crop production across the world has increased substantially in recent decades. Looking at the figures of common crop groups, which include cereals, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables, it has been noticed that crop production has increased by 47% between 1985 and 2005. However, considering all 174 crops tracked by the UN FAO, researchers found that global crop production increased by only 28% during that time.

This 28% gain in production occurred as cropland area increased marginally by 2.4%, suggesting a 25%increase in yield. However, cropland area that was harvested increased by about 7% between 1985 and 2005?nearly three times the change in cropland area, owing to increased multiple cropping, fewer crop failures, and less land left fallow. Accounting for the increase in harvested land, average global crop yields increased by only 20% between 1985 and 2005, substantially less than the often-cited 47% production increase for selected crop groups, indicating that yields are not rising as quickly as before.

It was also found that measuring by aggregate did not reveal trends in individual crops or crop groups. For example, cereal crops decreased in harvested area by 3.6% between 1985 and 2005, yet their total production increased by 29%, reflecting a 34% increase in yields per hectare. Oil crops, on the other hand, showed large increases in both harvested area (43%) and yield (57%), resulting in a 125% increase in total production. While most crops increased production between 1985 and 2005, fodder crops did not: on average, they saw an 18% production drop as a 26% loss in harvested area overrode an 11% increase in yields.

Another important point noted was that the allocation of crops to non-food uses, including animal feed, seed, bio-energy and other industrial products, affects the amount of food available to the world. Globally, only 62% of crop is allocated to human food, versus 35% to animal feed,which produces human food indirectly, as meat and dairy products and 3% for bio-energy, seed and other industrial products.

It was also found that a striking disparity exists between regions that primarily grow crops for direct human consumption and those that produce crops for other uses. North America and Europe devote only about 40% of their croplands to direct food production, whereas Africa and Asia allocate typically over 80% of their cropland to food crops. Extremes range from the Upper Midwestern USA with less than 25% to South Asia with over 90%.

?So,? Jones said, ?as we face the twin challenges of feeding a growing world, while charting a more environmentally sustainable path, the amount of land and other resources, devoted to animal-based agriculture, merits critical evaluation?. For example, adding croplands devoted to animal feed (about 350 million hectares) to pasture and grazing lands (3.38 billion hectares), we find the land devoted to raising animals totals 3.73 billion hectareswhich is,75% of the world?s agricultural land.

The study also noted that, meat and dairy production can either add to or subtract from the world?s food supply. Grazing systems, especially on pastures unsuitable for other food production, and mixed crop?livestock systems can add calories and protein to the world and improve economic conditions and food security in many regions. However, using highly productive croplands to produce animal feed, no matter how efficiently, represents a net drain on the world?s potential food supply.

So according to Jones, the environmental impacts of agriculture included those caused by expansion,when croplands and pastures extend into new areas, replacing natural ecosystems and those caused by intensification, often through the use of irrigation, fertilizers, biocides and mechanization. Agricultural expansion has had tremendous impacts on habitats, biodiversity, carbon storage and soil conditions. In fact, worldwide agriculture had already cleared or converted 70% of the grassland, 50% of the savanna, 45% of the temperate deciduous forest, and 27% of the tropical forest biome.

?Today? said Jones, ?agriculture is mainly expanding in the tropics, where it is estimated that about 80% of new croplands are replacing forests?. This expansion is worrisome, given that tropical forests are rich reservoirs of biodiversity and key ecosystem services. Clearing tropical forests is also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and is estimated to release around 1.131015 grams of carbon per year, or about 12% of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions28. Slowing or halting expansion of agriculture in the tropics, will reduce carbon emissions as well as losses of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Photo: Neil Mathew

Agricultural intensification has dramatically increased in recent decades, outstripping rates of agricultural expansion, and has been responsible for most of the yield increases of the past few decades. In the past 50 years, the world?s irrigated cropland area roughly doubled, while global fertilizer use increased by 500%, with over 800% for nitrogen alone. Intensification has also caused water degradation, increased energy consumption, and widespread pollution.

Of particular concern is that some 70% of global freshwater are devoted to irrigation. Furthermore, rain-fed agriculture is the world?s largest user of water13,38. In addition, fertilizer use, manure application, and leguminous crops,which fix nitrogen in the soil, have dramatically disrupted global nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, with associated impacts on water quality, aquatic ecosystems and marine fisheries. Both agricultural expansion and intensification are also major contributors to climate change. Agriculture is responsible for 30?35% of global greenhouse gas emissions, largely from tropical deforestation, methane emissions from livestock and rice cultivation, and nitrous oxide emissions from fertilized soils.

Today, humans are farming more of the planet than ever, with higher resource intensity and staggering environmental impacts, while diverting an increasing fraction of crops to animals, bio-fuels and other non-food uses. Meanwhile, almost a billion people are chronically hungry. The requirements of current and future generations demand that we transform agriculture to meet the twin challenges of food security and environmental sustainability.

Prof. Jones neatly summed up his analysis which demonstrates that four core strategies can meet future food production needs and environmental challenges if deployed simultaneously. Adding them together, they increase global food availability by 100?180%, meeting projected demands while lowering greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity losses, water use and water pollution. However, all four strategies are needed to meet our global food production and environmental goals; no single strategy is sufficient.

Specific land use, agricultural and food system tactics must be developed and deployed. Fortunately, many such tactics already exist, including precision agriculture, drip irrigation, organic soil remedies, buffer strips and wetland restoration, new crop varieties that reduce needs for water and fertilizer, perennial grains and tree-cropping systems, and paying farmers for environmental services. However, deploying these tactics effectively around the world requires numerous economic and governance challenges to be overcome. For example, reforming global trade policies, including eliminating price-distorting subsidies and tariffs, will be vital to achieving the goals.

Finally to develop improved land use and agricultural practices, Jones suggested the following guidelines:

(1) Solutions should focus on critical biophysical and economic ?leverage points? in agricultural systems, where major improvements in food production or environmental performance may be achieved with the least effort and cost.

(2) New practices must also increase the resilience of the food system. High-efficiency, industrialized agriculture has many benefits, but it is vulnerable to disasters, including climatic disturbances, new diseases and economic calamities.

(3) Agricultural activities have many costs and benefits, but methods of evaluating the trade-offs are still poorly developed. We need better data and decision support tools to improve management decisions, productivity and environmental stewardship.

(4) The search for agricultural solutions should remain technology neutral.
There are multiple paths to improving the production, food security and environmental performance of agriculture, and we should not be locked into a single approach.

The challenges facing agriculture today said Jones are quite unlike anything we have experienced before, and they require revolutionary approaches to solving food production and sustainability problems.

In short, new agricultural systems must deliver more human value, to those who need it most, with the least environmental harm. That way we can ensure the 9 billion of us do not starve in 2050.

* The above article cites and paraphrases material from an analysis written and published by JA Foley et al.

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The writer attended ESOF2012 in Dublin as a Robert Bosch Stiftung Fellow

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=de19b0593e0c1716b7f6104519a7fee3

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Provide a Dog with Good Oral Health | Anti-Aging

Health and Fitness | Anti-Aging | * Written by Edward Swan | Friday, 27 July 2012 16:58 | Word Count: 355

Establishing and maintaining good levels of oral health is important for both humans and animals to ensure they can enjoy a quality of life. Each part of the mouth area, from the teeth to the jaws, combines to allow a person or animal to effectively breathe, communicate and eat food. It is therefore essential to ensure a set of teeth remain sharp and clean to preserve their quality and be able to carry out cognitive functions without any pain.
Although animals in the wild are required to fend for themselves and maintain their own quality of teeth, those which are bought as pets place the responsibility on their owner?s shoulders. All owners take on the role of looking after the safety and wellbeing of their pet to ensure the environment is suitable for their naturalistic requirements. Additionally, they are responsible for providing their pet with a level of nutrition required to keep their body and overall health in prime condition.
Due to the abundance of energy and excitement they exude, dogs require ample portions of animal feed on a daily basis. This not only helps to strengthen their core body muscles and bones, but also provides the nutrients and vitamins needed to be active and move freely.
Typical products specifically created for dogs are available in wet and dry dog food form. The former is usually contained within a sealed tin with a flavoured jelly providing a moist, flavour-packed meal, whilst the latter is kept in a thick bag to preserve its dry nature.
As brushing the teeth of a dog can be an almost impossible task, owners must find other ways of promoting oral health for their pet. While such animal feed is beneficial for the substantial levels of vitamin and nutrients packed within each product, dry dog food can play a key role in preserving the quality of a dog?s teeth. The rough and tough nature of dry food provides dog with a level of jaw work required to keep their teeth strong and clean.
Specialist dental biscuits can also be purchased to further enhance a dog?s oral health. This is to ensure they can enjoy eating without any pain, whilst receiving the intake of nutrients required to own a happy, healthy canine.

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