There is an eco-cost to every “industrialization” of agriculture – But even as the almond business booms, California ecology is heading toward a bust. In San Joaquin Valley, the ground has been sinking by an average of 11 inches per year, thanks to over-pumping of aquifers. Worse, groundwater depletion has been making the Sierra Nevada and Coast Mountain ranges slowly rise, which could potentially trigger earthquakes. And finally, honeybee colonies could be on the brink of collapse, as a whopping 60 percent of the nation’s managed honeybees devote their efforts to California’s almond orchards.
via Almonds Are Sucking the Life Out of California – The Wire.




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