Hi Jennifer,
Attached is a recent speech from Greg Bourne in which he said:
"We now know, for example, that the Himalayan glaciers which feed the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, the Mekong, the Yangtze and the other great Asian rivers are likely to disappear within 40 years due to the warming of the planet.
If these rivers dry up during the irrigation season, then the rice production which currently feeds over one third of humanity collapses and the world goes into net food deficit."
Is he being over-dramatic? Perhaps you would like to mention it in your blog.
Regards Anon.
Attached: download speech by Greg Bourne (CEO of WWF) by clicking anywhere here.
"This year’s world grain harvest is projected to fall short of consumption by 61 million tons, marking the sixth time in the last seven years that production has failed to satisfy demand. As a result of these shortfalls, world carryover stocks at the end of this crop year are projected to drop to 57 days of consumption, the shortest buffer since the 56-day-low in 1972 that triggered a doubling of grain prices." Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute.
This is assuming Australia pulls in a 36 million tonne grain harvest which at the moment looks unlikely to crack 10 million with Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland in dire trouble. NSW has recently received rains but has no subsoil moisture and South Australia has had a good start but will be needing rains very soon.
We know that India has had problems with its wheat crop this year importing 3.5 million tonnes, the first time it has imported any grain since 1999. China has just become a net importer of corn despite prediction this would not occur until next year.
There will be food shortages within 5 years in affluent countries. The question society needs to ask itself is this. Just how do we propose to reinvigorate the rural sector now we have almost brought it to its knees by bankrupting social and intellectual capital, discouraging investment, and offering meager reward for the great spoils of a rich culinary rersource base. Pigs eating out of a trough rarely give thought to where the next meal will come from. Are humans any different?