text: The Associated Press: SAfrica: PRETORIA, South Africa South Africa says it and other developing countries won't consider the next round of climate change talks successful unless rich nations pay up. ... Alf Wills, a top South African environmental official, summed up the position: "No money, no deal." South Africa, more industrialized than most on the continent, is Africa's main carbon emitter. California: Frost damage hampers peach crop Peaches - The 2009 California Freestone peach crop forecast is 350 thousand tons, down 5% from the June forecast, and 19% below the 2008 crop . Bearing acres are estimated at 28.0 thousand. California experienced an adequate number of chilling hours, thus benefiting the Freestone crop. Freezing temperatures hit California in early March, which resulted in frost damage in some areas. Frost damage, along with a decrease in the bearing acres, have resulted in a forecasted lower production for the 2009 crop. How is America going to end? We could be crushed by a climate strongman. - By Josh Levin - Slate Magazine Even if America sells its soul to keep everyone else out, the country will have to contract. The Great Plains could turn into a Sahara-style wasteland. Cities like New Orleans and Miamiand maybe Boston and New Yorkcould be abandoned once recurrent storms and rising sea levels render them too expensive to save. ... ...As more people pack into a smaller space, scarce resources will become scarcer. Those who stick it out in the inhospitable hinterlands could become a new generation of pioneers, heroes and innovators who work to once again make this territory hospitable for the masses. Or these die-hard localists could become impoverished and estranged from Americasurvivalist guerrillas who fight and scrounge for whatever they can get.