
Drought conditions are a growing problem for farmers around the world. Australian farmers have been hit extremely hard over the last few years. In California, after three consecutive years of scarce rainfall, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency with another dry summer forthcoming. From Australia to China to the United States, governments and farmers are searching for some relief and a long-term solution to global water supplies that are projected to diminish even more in the future.
Solar energy represents one solution, a fix that many farmers and policy makers see as both long-term and multifaceted. Subsequently, global governments are pouring funds and resources into developing solar energy solutions for farmers. Following are some of the ways that solar power can aid drought-hit farmers .

Bats are interesting creatures: they are mammals that fly. Bat populations are declining worldwide. This steady decline has scientists curious about why and experimenting with various ways to reverse this trend. One of these ways may be using solar powered heaters.
First, there are some intriguing facts about bats that bear considering. For example, did you know that if you’re an organic coffee drinker, it’s likely that bats played a positive role in keeping those organic coffee plants bug-free and healthy? In an article for Treehugger , Michael Graham Richard says that although birds have gotten most of the credit for eating the bugs that might infest coffee plants at organic coffee plantations where pesticides are banned, it seems that bats deserve more of the credit .
A study from the University of Michigan has shown that during the summer wet season, bats eat more bugs than the birds at Finca Irlanda, a 740-acre organic coffee plantation in Chiapas, Mexico. Richard titles his article Thank Your Lucky Bat for Shade-Grown Organic Coffee, and claims that, “ This is just one example of a great ‘ecological service’ that went unnoticed until now . How many more do we benefit from without realizing it? Sadly, bat populations are declining worldwide, and the small flying mammals never got the love they deserve.”
In another Treehugger article about bats, we learn that in the northeastern United States and Canada, more than 80% of the deaths in several bat populations have been caused by a fungus – indirectly. Writer Jaymi Heimbuch says, “Scientists haven’t figured out a way to stop it from spreading, but they have figured out a likely reason bats are dying from the fungus. And that’s led them to devise heater boxes run on solar panels and car batteries that could save the lives of bats.
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