Scientific American:
The biggest threat to global stability is the potential for food crises in poor countries to cause government collapse.
Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization?: Scientific American
Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization? : TreeHugger
Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization? : Sustainablog
Peak Oil News - How Food Shortages Could Bring Down Civilization
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After eight years of President Pan, there is a Scientific American left?
Of course we could solve several problems in the U.S.
We have some population distribution problems that need to be addressed..
California is over populated... some times 2-4 familes per house. Often poor integration into the American culture due to such problems with negative inpact on education.
In Detroit we have half the houses empty.. average price 18K per house. And its like that through the rust belt. In Detroit they are closing schools because of a lack of students.
We also have in these northern areas an aging population who would like to retire in Texas and Florida. Florida has right now lots of reasonable housing but northerners who would be retiring cant sell and move south as planned.
I have land and houses in Florida and Texas I need to sell so i can retire and hire some one to replace me.. see my plan works for everyone. No need to create another strip mall in LA. or school... when they are empty in the rust belt. We need population redistribution incentives. Move to Detroit for ten years , you get a house and citzenship after ten years ( Buffalo, only after 5 years..lol)
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And enabling Baby boomers like me to retire, solves much of the unemployment problem...
Regards
Biggest threat to mother earth... too many people.
Regards
Until we get leaders who are not terrified of the selfish interests of the religious leaders of the world it's only going to get worse.
We HAVE to bring population under control. Zero Population Growth is imperative. Reproduce only yoursleves and quit having so dang many kids. But criminal outfits like the Catholic church scream and scream at the possibility of them losing sheep to keep them obscenely wealthy.
Bring it up and watch the rightwing pundits go into overdrive claiming the president wants to kill people.
many Rethugs have pasted human consumption
Boss Slimbaugh
Glen Beck
Dick Cheney
Karl Rove
all past their prime overweight arrogant fat white men-- should we slaughter - the swine?
That's one reason we must stop using Corn for ethanol and switch to Industrial Hemp..it renews every 4 months and we can also get bio diesel from that seeds...
Hemp 4 Fuel
http://hemp4fuel.com/
Grow Here Grow Now..!
Yep, but you can't tell those corn farmers differently. They are less interested in growing anything else because of the money involved. Hemp MUST be legalized to help save this planet for habitation of humans. Or the Earth will shake us off like so many fleas.
You are both correct and now as we change over the stills whihc have been built.. we can also import sugar and use the same plants build to produce ethanol from corn.. your choice whisky or rum.... RUM much better ethanol return.
Regards
So?
Eat the rich.
Population control was considered critical to our survival until Reagan placated to the Catholics and religious right in order to get elected. Funding was totally cut and the issue was placed on the back burner. This is one more example of the terrible mess that we are in because of the neocons that took this country over 20 years ago (and yes, that includes the southern Dem, Clinton). I just hope it is not too late, but it is questionable.
Sorry--meant to say, almost 30 years ago since Reagan won in 1980.
America's population growth has remained fairly steady.
Baloney. We've increased by about three million people a year. Most of that because of immigration and their higher birth rates in this country.
When I was born the population was around 170 million.
Today around 320 million. Each doubling is happening in half the time.
Will reach 400 million in 20 years and 500 million 20 years later and 600 million 15 years later. So in just 60 years plus will double again...
Regards
Remember, Soylent Green is sold on Tuesdays.
http://kennethmarkhoover.com
Precisely why it is immoral to use anything that could be food (like corn) for your gas tank.
Likewise, to use water and land to grow plants for your gas tank rather than food is immoral.
For the luxury of putting ethanol in our gas tanks the price of food increases worldwide.
And hemp would solve that problem and corn could be used for food again.
Food and/or water will be hard to come by in our increasingly contaminated world.
Here's a suggestion for all: go to http://www.ecofoot.org/ and calculate your ecological footprint. It may be fun or it may be horrifying, but it will certainly be enlightening. If your ratio is worse than 1:1, play with the options to see where you can make improvements.
By the way, if you live in America, it's not possible to achieve a 1:1 ratio. See the FAQ on "Services" for the reason why.
Thank you again, this link should be posted every time you post as it sez so much...
http://www.ecofoot.org/
Obrigado...practicing my Portuguese today ;-)
Eu nao falo Portuguese. :)
I'm doing my part: I have no children and grow a lot of my own food. If I ever do decide to have a kid, I'll only have one, and that one will know how to grow food.
So what are you guys doing?
Congratulations.
My wife and I have no kids, and that's a decision we've carved in stone. We grow SOME of our own food, but not enough. And we live close to work and walk every day. It's still not enough, though. Try http://www.ecofoot.org/ and see how you're doing. We have more work to do.
Awesome!
I don't grow enough food for myself either, but I have replaced all my houseplants with cherry tomatoes, spinach, chard, lettuce, beans and herbs. Everything I can't use, I dehydrate. Completely organic, non-GMO food, dirt cheap. I also compost and try to get as close to a zero waste kitchen as possible. :)
OBRIGADO!
I'm not bringing any kids into this world, but I respect your decision.
I did my part by only having one child and having a garden every years since I was a young girl. I am old now . It didn't do any good, because nobody else, or too few of us, tried to reduce population growth. I live in a rural community that is seeing many irrigation systems being installed this year. I am horrified and plan to investigate where the incentive is coming from. I suspect the government is giving low interest loans, or a credit that would allow low income farmers to now put in these very expensive systems. I just can't tell you how upset I am about this. They are springing up all over the place.
What I can't wrap my brain around is the enormous amounts of food that are wasted here. I read that almost half of all harvested food in America is thrown out.
How does one reconcile that with critical food shortages? It is nothing short of immoral.
Transportation & distribution.
Thank you.
We create an excessive demand and the suppliers exceed it. It's the American way.
Within fifteen to twenty years, the glaziers of the Himalayas will be essentially gone. Those provide the major source of water for lands where over a BILLION people now live. In twenty years, that number could almost double. Without water, they would not be able to survive, and they will attempt to move into areas where they can, but what area is prepared to or able to take in two billion people?
This will lead to wars and problems unseen, ever.
Or not, your possibility is valid yet remember we have a crisis with the climate and that makes it unpredictable, the odds of you being right are welcomed and pondered I'm sure by us all.
Not just the Himalayan glaciers - the Rocky Mountain glaciers are also melting away rapidly. The states and provinces that depend on the meltwater streams for their water are going to be in big trouble. Greenland too is experiencing rapid glacier melting, which won't affect too many people directly, but indirectly yes. Higher ocean levels, possibly some effect on the ocean currents that keep western Europe warm. Major problems will be facing the upcoming generations, and they will curse us.
We are so f---ked.
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04/26/09 12:03 AM