For fuck's sake, you posted an article that literally claimed, in it's very first paragraph which you quoted in full, that "now [apparently written in the late 1990s] the gains [are] too small to keep pace with population growth". Remember
post#101? How is that a prediction about the future?
Which in no way translates as food shortages right now. This is a medium to long term issue, as explained numerous times. Stop seizing on the wording and trying to impose your own meaning.
Here's what it said:
''The loss of momentum in world food output is widespread. Notably, the growth of grain production has slowed in several populous countries, including China, India, Indonesia and Mexico. The world area in grain has declined steadily from a record high in 1981.
The remarkable increases in food production during the 1960s and 70s come in part at the expense of soil and water resources. Since the 1970s soil erosion has increased sharply. For example, in the USA in 1976, farmers were estimated to be losing six tonnes of soil for every ton of grain produced. In the former Soviet Union and the USA erodible land is being converted to grasslands and woodlands. Across the southern fringe of the Sahara the agricultural frontier is retreating as a result of declining rainfall, land degradation, and dune formation. China and the USA have reduced the area of irrigated land. Water tables have fallen in both these countries and in the former Soviet Union and India, where wells are running dry and thousands of villages are relying on tank truck for drinking water. Climatic changes may further reduce land and water resources. ''
Now how you go from ''the loss of momentum in world food output'' in terms of production gains to 'we are not producing enough food right now'' is beyond me.
It's like you are wearing strange virtual blinkers that only allow you to see what you want to see and disregard the rest. You keep banging on the same drum even after I explained that this issue is related to mid century and beyond, even posting more quotes and links to that effect.....yet you seize onto some wording and make it your own, imposing your own conditions without regard to whatever else is said.
One more time, food production is not yet an issue. The problem being described involves multiple elements such as a slowdown in production gains, rising consumption, water, arable land, climate change, etc, in relation to conditions from mid century onward, a perfect storm of elements that is likely to destabilize economies, etc.
The issue
yet again:
''Unlike previous geological epochs, where various geological and climate processes defined the time periods, the proposed Anthropecene period is named for the dominant influence humans and their activities are having on the environment. In essence, humans are a new global geophysical force.
''However, while population size is part of the problem, the issue is bigger and more complex than just counting bodies.
There are many factors at play. Essentially, it is what is happening within those populations—their distribution (density, migration patterns and urbanisation), their composition (age, sex and income levels) and, most importantly, their consumption patterns—that are of equal, if not more importance, than just numbers.''
This article is from the
world business council:
From the WBCSD’s Business Role Focus Area workstream on Sustainable Consumption & ConsumersCurrent global consumption patterns are unsustainable. Based on the facts and trends outlined in this document, it is becoming apparent that efficiency gains and technological advances alone will not be sufficient to bring global consumption to a sustainable level; changes will also be required to consumer lifestyles, including the ways in which consumers choose and use products and services.
1. Global drivers of consumption
Global consumption levels and patterns are driven at the most fundamental level by:Rapid global population growth – Population of 9 billion expected by 2050• The rise in global affluence and associated consumption – Global middle class expected to triple by 2030; • low-income consumers represent a market of US$ 5 trillionA culture of “consumerism” among higher income groups, who account for the greatest per capita share of global • consumption
2. Global consumption patterns & impacts
Global consumption is putting unsustainable and increasing stress on:The Earth’s ecosystems – 60% of the Earth’s ecosystem services have been degraded in the past 50 years • The supply of energy and material resources needed for industrial growth – Natural resource consumption is • expected to rise to 170% of the Earth’s bio-capacity by 2040Human social systems and well-being – Human well-being does not necessarily rely on high levels of consumption''
''World population is projected to reach 9 billion by 2050, driven largely by growth in developing countries and countries with lower per-capita incomes.4 Recent studies show that we are already exceeding the Earth’s ability to support our lifestyles, and have been doing so for approximately twenty years.''
