In this week's Resource Roundup, big news and global developments:

• Food Security: With droughts and heatwaves affecting areas like wheat producing Russia, as well as floods engulfing large amounts of agricultural land in Australia, issues of food security are high on the radar for 2011.  Food prices to increase dramatically, and in some areas they already are.  With a surging world population, there's less arable land to work with, impacts of severe weather are taking a huge toll, and nations competing for commodities will drive up prices and create scarcities.  The year ahead is tipped for some big challenges.  Read the full article here for a bird's-eye view.  According to Lester Brown:

"As the new year begins, the price of wheat is setting an all-time high in the United
Kingdom. Food riots are spreading across Algeria. Russia is importing grain to
sustain its cattle herds until spring grazing begins. India is wrestling with an
18-percent annual food inflation rate, sparking protests. China is looking abroad
for potentially massive quantities of wheat and corn. The Mexican government is
buying corn futures to avoid unmanageable tortilla price rises. And on January 5,
the U.N. Food and Agricultural organization announced that its food price index for
December hit an all-time high." 

• Climate Change: With weather disasters playing such a big part in interrupting food production, you'd think that legislators in various parts of the world might be taking climate change a bit more seriously. 
  
  Well, it appears they're still not-- and in part, its because of some flawed economics being cited to predict the impacts climate change will have on the economy, when weighed against the perceived cost of taking action.  The outcome?  Little serious action, when some bold steps are needed-- at least in some places.  What are the true costs of climate change to our way of life?
  
  [Side note: Seattle seems to be doing some interesting things in anticipating how climate change may affect the city in the years ahead.  Worth keeping tabs on how this develops.]
   
• Sustainable Farming: "An amazing thing is happening within the EU...A few years ago everyone said these farms were irrelevant and policy favoured competitive farms. Now small-scale farms are seen as valuable for food and landscape, with massive benefits for flood and fire control, biodiversity and mitigation against climate change. They are increasingly appreciated as vital for Europe's future."... says Nat Page of ADEPT, an organisation devoted to sustainable farming practices.  They're doing some amazing work and learning from one of the most unlikely of places-- Transylvania-- where farming practices largely haven't changed in centuries, provide people a sustainable living, and protect local biodiversity at the same time.  How does this work?  Find out. 
• Mobility: According to a study by Lee Schipper and Adam Millard-Ball, automotive transport may be reaching its limits due to a number of factors, and it seems people might in fact be travelling less in some developed nations.  Among the interesting snippets, Schipper says:

"My basic thesis is, 'There ain't room on the road,'" he said. "You can't move in Jakarta or Bangkok or any large city in Latin America or in any city in the wealthy part of China. I think Manila takes the prize. Yes, fuel economy is really important, and yes, hybrid cars will help. But even a car that generates no CO2 still generates a traffic problem.

"Sadly, what is going to restrain car use the most is that you can't move."

In other mobility news: to encourage people to drive less (and hence burn less fossil fuel, create less carbon), California has approved  "Pay as You Drive" car insurance, and Massachussetts is considering introduction as part of it's Clean Energy and Climate Plan, along with numerous other programmes. 

• Biodiversity:  Recent mass animal deaths are highly unsettling.  From crabs in the UK to birds in the US to fish in Brazil, what's the cause?  An interesting article explores potential common threads and possibilities.  [Side note: someone recently chimed in quite aptly on the matter: "Seems to me the event is th canary in the coalmine for humanity."]
  
  In other (slightly more optimistic) news in biodiversity is that whaling is pretty close to not breaking even.  But if it is a loser from a business point of view, will the practice still continue with nations like Japan and others willing to throw government subsidies at continuing such an industry?
• Alternative Energy:  India claims Asia's first tidal power plant-- a 50MW facility to be constructed in the Gulf of Kutch by Atlantis Resources and Gujarat Power. Pretty brilliant stuff.