Australia faces famine, expert warns

[annielaurie]

Australia faces famine, expert warns

By News Online's Sarah Collerton

24 Oct/2009

A food production expert says Australia may face a massive famine if governments fail to address an impending global food shortage ...

A conference of food productivity experts in Sydney this week heard the greatest threat to the world is not climate change, but food production on land and in the water.

Science communicator Julian Cribb, an adjunct professor at the University of Technology Sydney, made a keynote address at the seminar saying there is expected to be about 9.2 billion people in the world in 2050, barring wars or major accidents.

But Professor Cribb says that population will create an alarming problem - there simply will not be enough food to go round.

"Basically what the world has not noticed is that hunger has been sneaking up on us for quite a while," he told ABC News Online. Population is growing and demand for food is rising. Governments have had it so good for so long - the world has had plenty of food - they have become complacent and ignorant. Climate change is going to get worse and worse, but the food problems are going to be in the next two to three decades. I'm warning now because it takes about a generation to develop new technologies and get them out broadscale. We need to take action now about these things ..."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009 ... ion=justin

Climate change plus problems with distribution of food, what's to be done about it, Austraia and everywhere!
Discussion here ...

[Jovial Monk]

Malthus again?

[Lefteee]

Australia is a net food exporter. We produce far more than our small population can eat. But our population is growing and the rate appears to be accelerating. And our broadscale agriculture is vulnerable to devastating drought, whether it be a completely natural occurence or influenced by GW.

[Jovial Monk]

We will find ways of growing food--algae crackers are yum--but you won't really enjoy what there is to eat!

[boxy]

Rudd makes no apology for wanting to load another 10 million people into our already stretched water catchments. More people to tax because of the environmental impact they will have.

[Jovial Monk]

It used to be "populate or perish" and maybe Rudd is thinking of that. With ever more stretched, ever more drying by AGW it could just be "populate AND perish."

[JW.Frogen]

Australia faces a famine?

What did cynik eat Swizterland out of house and chocolate?

Is he moving back to Australia?

[Monkey Magic]

We will find ways of growing food--algae crackers are yum--but you won't really enjoy what there is to eat!

you cannot be so sure of that. it is easier to ignore the problem because we can afford to import food. we have been ignoring the problem which has been predicted by many since the 70s, and by few prior to the 70s. ignorance is bliss!

but those countries who cannot afford to import food have been imploding. civil war in the natural consequence of a hungry belly. refugees are a natural consequence of civil war. but still, it is easier for affluent nations to access refugee quotas than it is to solve the world wide food crisis. ignorance is bliss!

there is a day of reckoning and that day is 21 December 2012.

[boxy]

Especially with the unknown quantity that is global warming on the horizon, continuing to plan for an even higher population burden is foolish. Who knows what the climate is going to be like over our farming land in another 20 years, and every extra consumer makes carbon targets just that much harder to achieve.

You can't have it both ways. Want to reduce carbon emissions... then stop encouraging the root cause of it all. Constantly increasing consumerism.

[Monkey Magic]

if the planet needs cooling due to climate warming, whats the bet that sulfur seeding of clouds will be the solution, and not carbon reductions.

consumerism will reduce as scarce food becomes more consumptive of the family budget. things that are scarce are bloody expensive.