Posted on 03/19/2009 10:56:41 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Growing world population will cause a "perfect storm" of food, energy and water shortages by 2030, the UK government chief scientist has warned.
By 2030 the demand for resources will create a crisis with dire consequences, Prof John Beddington said.
Demand for food and energy will jump 50% by 2030 and for fresh water by 30%, as the population tops 8.3 billion, he told a conference in London.
Climate change will exacerbate matters in unpredictable ways, he added.
'Complacent'
"It's a perfect storm," Prof Beddington told the Sustainable Development UK 09 conference.
"There's not going to be a complete collapse, but things will start getting really worrying if we don't tackle these problems."
Prof Beddington said the looming crisis would match the current one in the banking sector.
"My main concern is what will happen internationally, there will be food and water shortages," he said.
"We're relatively fortunate in the UK; there may not be shortages here, but we can expect prices of food and energy to rise."
The United Nations Environment Programme predicts widespread water shortages across Africa, Europe and Asia by 2025.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
That’s why I didn’t say you were a despot, dude ! I said carries the seeds of it. You do understand the difference, I hope. I stand by my conclusion, too. It does carry the seeds of it because at it’s core is the idea that at some point, people are a bad idea.
People produce wealth: ~80% more than they consume, except for the permanent drones.
Our world of 5 billion is so rich that the poorest countries in (say) 1970 are now comparatively decent places to live.
In a world of 30 billion, the very poorest people on the planet would have 30 inch HDTVs.
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