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Population expands but climate change shrinks food supplies
By Greg Cusack |
February 14, 2011, Monday
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DEAR editor,
I very much enjoyed the fine article, "Food for all is possible only with vision, not short-term fixes," by Olivier De Schutter, which appeared in the February 8 edition of your fine newspaper. It was written clearly, succinctly, and with hopeful vision.
It was interesting that elsewhere in the Daily you carried a story about the continuing severe drought in China's grain-growing areas.
I have been following this developing tragedy through your pages for months now.
Frankly, the situation is not only tragic for China's farmers and rural villages, but the worldwide situation is downright scary!
Argentina's corn crops are suffering from ongoing drought as well, and this follows disastrous flooding in Australia's crop-producing lands and last summer's drought that damaged Russia's wheat crop.
World food supplies are shrinking even as populations continue to increase.
I am keeping a wary eye on predicted spring and summer conditions in the United States, as we - and the world - desperately need our crops to produce an abundant harvest.
All that anyone is daring to predict at the moment is that we will have a "wet and cool" spring.
So far, so good.
But often this kind of spring is followed by a hot and dry summer, which we definitely do not need this year.
All of these unusual worldwide conditions affecting vital crop regions are further proof of the long-term disastrous effects of climate change.
I hope China, and other aware countries in our poor world, keep up the pressure on the US to "get real" on climate change and on desperately needed responses.
(Greg Cusack, former member of the Iowa state House of Representatives, US)
I very much enjoyed the fine article, "Food for all is possible only with vision, not short-term fixes," by Olivier De Schutter, which appeared in the February 8 edition of your fine newspaper. It was written clearly, succinctly, and with hopeful vision.
It was interesting that elsewhere in the Daily you carried a story about the continuing severe drought in China's grain-growing areas.
I have been following this developing tragedy through your pages for months now.
Frankly, the situation is not only tragic for China's farmers and rural villages, but the worldwide situation is downright scary!
Argentina's corn crops are suffering from ongoing drought as well, and this follows disastrous flooding in Australia's crop-producing lands and last summer's drought that damaged Russia's wheat crop.
World food supplies are shrinking even as populations continue to increase.
I am keeping a wary eye on predicted spring and summer conditions in the United States, as we - and the world - desperately need our crops to produce an abundant harvest.
All that anyone is daring to predict at the moment is that we will have a "wet and cool" spring.
So far, so good.
But often this kind of spring is followed by a hot and dry summer, which we definitely do not need this year.
All of these unusual worldwide conditions affecting vital crop regions are further proof of the long-term disastrous effects of climate change.
I hope China, and other aware countries in our poor world, keep up the pressure on the US to "get real" on climate change and on desperately needed responses.
(Greg Cusack, former member of the Iowa state House of Representatives, US)
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