the trade policies forced on countries who borrrow money from the world bank don't help anything either .
On Jan 12, 8:59 am, margareth <[email protected]> wrote: > Globalization in agriculture is a failure. STalin and the Russian > people learned the hard way that it is the independant farmer that > owns his/her own land that will be the best producer of grain. > Unfortunately in the Americas, that is their undoing... the more > efficient they are, the lower the price even when the price to the > consumer is rising. At the same time employees and corporations do a > very poor job of maintaining the fertility of the soil.... much is > heading for the Gulf of Mexico. At the same time as the world's > population is doubling frequently. Local growers and processors > throughout the world need to be encouraged, and supported. If not by > government, at least by those who want to eat a nutritious diet. It > may be more expensive in the short run, but as long as land is > maintained for agricultural purposes, people will have a hope for > survival. or even prosperity. > > On Jan 12, 7:08 am, "florida mike !" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Billions Face Food Shortages, Study Warns > > >http://www.truthout.org/011109A > > > Climate change may ruin farming in tropics by 2100. Record > > temperatures to become normal in Europe. > > > Half of the world's population could face severe food shortages > > by > > the end of the century as rising temperatures take their toll on > > farmers' crops, scientists have warned. > > > Harvests of staple food crops such as rice and maize could fall > > by > > between 20% and 40% as a result of higher temperatures during the > > growing season in the tropics and subtropics. Warmer temperatures in > > the region are also expected to increase the risk of drought, cutting > > crop losses further, according to a new study. > > > The worst of the food shortages are expected to hit the poor, > > densely inhabited regions of the equatorial belt, where demand for > > food is already soaring because of a rapid growth in population. > > > A study in the US journal Science found there was a 90% chance > > that by the end of the century, the coolest temperatures in the > > tropics during the crop growing season would exceed the hottest > > temperatures recorded between 1900 and 2006. > > > More temperate regions such as Europe could expect to see > > previous > > record temperatures become the norm by 2100. > > > "The stress on global food production from temperatures alone is > > going to be huge, and that doesn't take into account water supplies > > stressed by the higher temperatures," said David Battisti, at the > > University of Washington, who led the study. > > > Battisti and Rosamond Naylor, at Stanford University in > > California, combined climate models from the Intergovernmental Panel > > on Climate Change (IPCC) and historical examples of the impact of > > heatwaves on agriculture, and found severe food shortages were likely > > to become more common. > > > Among the periods they examined was the record heatwave across > > western Europe in 2003, which killed an estimated 52,000 people and > > also cut yields of wheat and fodder by a third. In 1972, a prolonged > > hot summer in south-east Ukraine and south-west Russia saw > > temperatures rise by between 2C and 4C above the norm, driving down > > wheat and coarse grain yields for the whole of the USSR by 13%. The > > disruption affected the global cereal market for two years. > > > Naylor, who is director of food security and the environment at > > Stanford, said the study emphasised the need for countries to invest > > in adapting to a changing climate. To develop new crops to withstand > > higher temperatures could take decades, she added. > > > "When we looked at our historical examples there were ways to > > address the problem within a given year," Naylor said. "People could > > always turn somewhere else to find food. But in the future there's > > not > > going to be any place to turn unless we rethink our food supplies." > > > The tropics and subtropics, which stretch from the southern US to > > northern Argentina and southern Brazil, from northern India and > > southern China to southern Australia, and cover all of Africa, are > > currently home to 3 billion people. Future temperature rises are > > expected to have a greater impact in the tropics because the crops > > grown there are less resilient to changes in climate. > > > According to the study, many local populations now live on less > > than £1.30 a day and depend on agriculture. The need for food is due > > to become more urgent as populations are expected to nearly double by > > the end of the century. > > > "When all the signs point in the same direction, and in this case > > it's a bad direction, you pretty much know what's going to happen," > > Battisti said. "You're talking about hundreds of millions of > > additional people looking for food because they won't be able to find > > it where they find it now. > > > "You can let it happen and painfully adapt, or you can plan for > > it. You could also mitigate [climate change] and not let it happen in > > the first place, but we're not doing a very good job of that." > > > Naylor added: "We have to be rethinking agriculture systems as a > > whole, not only thinking about new varieties [of crops], but also > > recognising that many people will just move out of agriculture, and > > even move from the lands where they live now." > > > In many countries, a combination of poor farming practices and > > deforestation, exacerbated by climate change, may steadily degrade > > soil fertility, leaving vast areas unsuitable for crops or grazing. > > In > > 2007, scientists warned that poor soil fertility meant a global food > > crisis was likely in the next half-century.- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. 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