Corn withers in a field in Temple Mills, Iowa, July 30, 2012, as the midwest suffers record high temperatures and the worst drought in a generation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said that the drought has rapidly increased in severity over the past month. As of August 1, more than half of U.S. counties had been designated as disaster areas by USDA in 2012, mainly due to drought. Photo by Karuna Ang/Greenpeace