Posted on 08/05/2007 1:54:34 AM PDT by qlangley
It is a little over 200 years since Malthus predicted that the world was on the point of running out of food. Population grows geometrically, he pointed out, but food production just arithmetically. Starvation and poverty were around the corner.
When Malthus developed his theories the world was home to just under one billion people. Today it is more than six billion, and they are better fed, better clothed and better housed than ever before. Malthus was more comprehensively wrong than almost anyone else in history, and yet he still has his admirers today.
After more than 20 years of work for the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, Norman Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He had taken farming techniques from his native Iowa, enhanced them with further research, and applied them in developing countries. He started with Mexico, then other parts of Latin America, then on to Asia.
Environmentalists, of course, dismissed his work as both damaging and fruitless . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at quentinlangley.net ...
>>Seems to me the real crunch will come in the next thirty years as the world’s population once again doubles. We may not have problems at 6.7 billion, but as we reach 14 billion, I don’t see how we could avoid some serious issues.
Check your figures. The growth has slowed substantially. We are talking about somewhere around 10 billion by 2050.
But, more importantly, it would not matter if you were right. Since food production is growing FASTER than population it will lead to more food per person at ANY population level.
those who today predict that the earth will soon run out of resources make the same mistake...60 years ago, silicon was for all intents and purposes worthless...today, it is a very valuable and useful commodity.
when a resource becomes more rare, we tend to find others to replace it or new sources...I believe one of these new sources is going to be outer space. Commercial space travel is beginning to take off now. As the prices for certain commodities increase, there will be a significant incentive to bring them back to earth from out there.
>>I believe one of these new sources is going to be outer space.
I agree, though I suspect it will continue to take longer than the enthusiasts predict.
it depends on the financial motivation level...
Thanks for the comments. I appreciate it.
You may be right, but I have seen some pretty devistating presentations on fresh water supply. I would also have to suggest that it would be very surprising to me to only see the populaction rise from 6.7 billion to ten billion over the next 43 years.
As you state though by implication, we have been very crafty in our ability to grow food. If fresh water does become as serious a problem as some say, desalination will undoubtedly come into vogue and be utilized much more broadly.
While we’re on the subject, I don’t think the left realizes how much this planet could change for the better if desalinization were utilized to reclaim desert regions developing forestation and farmlands.
There are a number of ways the increased growth could be handled without much problem, if we develope wisely.
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