Rice imports into the U.S. are projected to reach a record high this year after drought and water shortages in California cut down the rice harvest. 

California typically produces about one-fifth of U.S. rice. The Sacramento Valley is the largest rice-growing region in California, but extreme drought has led farmers to plant less than half the amount of grain as usual. In some western counties, rice acreage fell by as much as 85% compared to 2021. The U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that California will lose 38% of its rice crop in 2022, compared to last year. 

U.S. rice imports for the 2022/23 marketing year are expected to rise 14% over last year and reach the record high volume of 44 million hundredweight. Imported rice is also expected to make up 32% of rice use in the U.S., the highest share on record. A combination of factors has led to the rise in rice imports. In addition to the drought, a growing consumer preference for Asian aromatic rices, like basmati and jasmine rice, has led to increased imports from places like Thailand, India and Pakistan. U.S. rice exports were down 16% in the first half of this year, compared to 2021.

The United Nations warns that the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks in advanced economies risk pushing the world into a recession if they keep aggressively raising interest rates. The U.N.’s Trade and Development Report found that tightening monetary policies designed to fight inflation are nudging developing countries toward debt default and could potentially inflict worse damage than the 2008 financial crisis and COVID-19. 

“The current course of action is hurting the most vulnerable, especially in developing countries and risks tipping the world into a global recession,” said Rebeca Grynspan, secretary-general of the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, in a statement.

The U.N. predicts that global economic growth will slow from this year’s 2.5% to 2.2% in 2023 — a loss of more than $17 trillion. While the slowdown affects all economies, developing countries will be the most affected. Their average growth rate is projected to drop below 3%. 

Sixty percent of low-income countries and 30% of emerging market economies are currently in, or near, debt distress. The risk of a debt crisis continues to rise as major economies defend their currencies, weakening developing countries’ currencies — particularly against the dollar. The U.N. estimates that the Fed’s interest rate increases this year alone could cost developing countries $360 billion in income.

Public transit in the U.S. trails behind other wealthy countries, with even cities like New York City or Washington, D.C., failing to keep pace with Paris, London and Beijing’s systems of buses, metros and light rails. Rail passenger numbers in the U.S. are far lower than other large countries like China and India.

The American emphasis on cars and the expansion of the national highway system have led to more congestion and a rise in fossil fuel emissions. Commuters spent an average of 54 hours in traffic per year in 2019, compared to 20 hours in 1982. In contrast, China overtook the U.S. in rapid transit capacity in 2020. China’s investment in light rail has also led to its cities having lower per-capita transport emissions than cities in the developed world.

One of the challenges facing the U.S., which sets it apart from countries in Europe and Asia, is the relationship between federal and state laws. To develop better public transit systems, the U.S. needs political support and funding at both the local and federal level.

Brazilian presidential candidates Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro will head to a runoff on October 30, as neither candidate won 50% of the vote in Sunday night’s election. The results surprised Brazilians watching the polls, which predicted that Lula would win the election in the first round. Instead, Bolsonaro secured much more of the vote than expected with 43.3%, while Lula received 48.4%.

Lula, Brazil’s left-leaning former president, and right-wing current president Bolsonaro have led a tense season of presidential campaigning as a divided nation chooses between the two candidates. Bolsonaro, in a similar move to former U.S. President Trump, has already sown seeds of doubt in Brazil’s electronic voting system, implying that a win for Lula would be due to fraud. Lula is a two-term former president who served jail time for corruption convictions that were eventually overturned. Bolsonaro’s response to the pandemic led Brazilian federal police to call for him to be charged with spreading misinformation that led to over 680,000 deaths, but Brazil’s recovering economy may boost his support in the runoff.

Bolsonaro’s right-wing Liberal Party also did better than expected in the Senate and the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies. Right-leaning allies now control half of the Chamber of Deputies, with 83 seats, while Lula’s coalition controls 139 seats. In the Senate, Lula’s coalition won five seats, vs. the right-wing alliance’s six seats. 

The world is making progress in moving from fossil fuel use to climate-friendly, renewable energy, but still won’t meet the United Nations’ goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Energy is the biggest contributor to climate change, responsible for 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions. But millions of people still lack access to electricity, and the pandemic increased disparities in access.

As of 2019, 17.7% of the world’s energy consumption was renewable, according to the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. Total renewable energy use increased by a quarter between 2010 and 2019. That is the fastest rate of growth since 2012, owing to the increased use of hydropower, wind and solar power.

But to reach the U.N.’s global climate goals, the annual improvement of energy intensity needs to speed up from the most recent rate of 1.9% to 3.2% by 2030. Increasing global access to electricity will also be a key part of moving away from fossil fuels. About 15% of the world, or 1.1 billion people, don’t have access to electricity, and an estimated 3 billion people burn coal, wood or animal waste for cooking and heating.