The company's stock has lost more than a third of its value in the last 14 months, and analysts believe that unless things turn around fast, Monsanto may be forced to make radical changes, possibly dividing the company into separate pieces. Tropical hillsides, which comprise 9 percent of the world's landmass, lose 13 billion tons of topsoil each year. The organization strives to combine the knowledge of local farmers and communities with info from international agricultural researchers and computer-based geographic information systems. Invertebrates such as mussels and barnacles attach themselves to the structures, and a number of other sea creatures gather around them. Some 100 oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas have been left to serve as artificial reefs.
Many environmentalists accuse oil companies of simply trying to weasel out of costly cleanups.
Thus far, only 14 countries, most of them developing, small island nations already threatened by rising sea levels, have ratified the treaty, which calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions between 2008 and 2012. In other climate news, an American landfill company and a Canadian power company today will announce what is believed to be the largest trade to date of greenhouse-gas emissions rights. Governments are not yet formally recognizing such international emissions deals, but the companies said they want to show that emissions trading is a viable market mechanism for combating climate change. All rights reserved.