- Falling water tables, eroding soils, and rising temperatures make it all possible that a collapse of society via food is possible
- Food demands are rising faster than production
- As food availability decreases, government begin to lose their power, leading to drugs, war, piracy, and refugees
- Grain is also being competed by humans and as food for animals
- The amount of ethanol required to fill a 25 gallon SUV could feed one person for a whole year
- Irrigation uses 70% of the world's freshwater
- An arid regions, loss of groundwater may lead to end of agriculture
- 15% of India's food supply is produced by mining groundwater
- Topsoil is disappearing as a result of wind and water erosion
- For every Celsius degree that rises during growing season, yields are decreased by 10%
- Irrigation is biggest challenge, which consumes 70% of world's freshwater.
- Topsoil is eroding faster than new soil forms on a third of the world's cropland.
- Thin layer of essential plant nutrients took long stretches of geologic time to build up, yet it is typically only about six inches deep. Loss from wind and water erosion doomed earlier civilization
- Third and most pervasive environmental threat is rising surface temp
- It can affect crop yields everywhere
- Even a minor temperature change can shrink harvest
- For every rise of one degree Celsius, yields fall 10%
- People looked towards GMOs to solve the problem. No GM crops have led to dramatically higher yields.
- Soaring food prices and spreading hunger in other countries are beginning to break down the social order.
- GMOs have been theorized as a possible solution, however they have not shown major crop increase
- If countries who are large producers of grains limit & ban exporting their grains, prices go down for citizens of said country but causes panic to importing countries
- U.S. will most likely share their grains with Chinese consumers
- Plan B includes cutting carbon emissions, stabilizing population at 5 billion, eradicating poverty, and restoration of forests, soil, and aquifers
- Terracing ground, planting trees as shelterbelts against windblown soil erosion and practicing minimum tillage are the most important soil-conservation measures.
- Four objectives were seen as positive. Others saw them as humanitarian goals
- Meeting goals may be necessary to prevent collapse of civilization.
- Our challenge is to implement Plan B quickly
Combined effects of agriculture, population, environmental and economic trends and their interactions generate point to the breakdown of governments and societies. Our continuing failure to deal with the environmental declines that are undermining the world food economy (falling water tables, eroding soils and rising temperatures) will cause the collapse of civilization. Grain prices rose dramatically several times. As a result, wheat prices more than doubled, pulling rice and corn prices up with them. Surge in world grain prices are trend-driven. As populations grow, more demand for the grain grows. Stabilizing population and eradicating poverty go hand in hand. Key to accelerating the shift to smaller families is eradicating poverty and vice versa. Raising water productivity to arrest the fall in water tables to restore the earth's natural systems and resources. Raising water productivity by having more efficient irrigation systems
C: Write a reaction paragraph to the article stating your own thoughts on the topic, using specific citations from the article to support your views
Reading this article made me realize that we could run out of our food supply. People looked towards GMOs to solve the problem. No GM crops have led to dramatically higher yields.
Soaring food prices and spreading hunger in other countries are beginning to break down the social order. Since current world food shortage is trend-driven, the environmental trends that cause it must be reversed. We must ban deforestation worldwide and ensure at least a primary school education for all children. Every single day counts so we should start now to get everyone aware and educated about this problem.
So what?:
- Food shortages could lead to the end of civilization
Says who?:
- Lester R. Brown
What if?... we were short on food right now:
- Population decrease
- Fight for food
What does this remind me of?: Water. The same problem is with water also, we are running out and without people being educated we may run out of it completely.