National borders are becoming irrelevant, says John McDonnell

[sutty27]

We already have desalination technology. If and when it becomes economic to do so the technology will be developed and deployed. Much like shale oil has taken off when the supply of traditional oil became an issue.

 

The socialist approach would be to regulate. Water would be taxed or rationed to preserve the supply. Problem is that this turns what should be a temporary problem into a chronic one, because well intentioned people are trying to head of a catastrophe which would in reality never have materialised.

 

Unless we come up with very cheap clean energy it won't be violable to produce the worlds food by using desalination technology, and it is already being used in some parts of the world but that just accelerates global warming and increases energy costs.

 

The next problem is soil depletion.

 

Steadily and alarmingly, humans have been depleting Earth’s soil resources faster than the nutrients can be replenished. If this trajectory does not change, soil erosion, combined with the effects of climate change, will present a huge risk to global food security over the next century, warns a review paper authored by some of the top soil scientists in the country.

 

http://news.berkeley.edu/2015/05/07/soil-depletion-human-security/

 

So that's water and soil nutrients that are being used faster than they can be replenished.

 

Most of the worlds food required insects like bees and we are also causing their decline.

A combination of multiple, mostly man-made pressures are largely responsible for the continued global decline in honeybees, bumblebees, and other insect pollinators, say scientists.

http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/news/story.aspx?id=1440&cookieConsent=A

Edited February 1, 2016 by sutty27

[unbeliever]

Unless we come up with very cheap clean energy it won't be violable to produce the worlds food by using desalination technology, and it is already being used in some parts of the world but that just accelerates global warming and increases energy costs.

 

The next problem is soil depletion.

 

Steadily and alarmingly, humans have been depleting Earth’s soil resources faster than the nutrients can be replenished. If this trajectory does not change, soil erosion, combined with the effects of climate change, will present a huge risk to global food security over the next century, warns a review paper authored by some of the top soil scientists in the country.

 

http://news.berkeley.edu/2015/05/07/soil-depletion-human-security/

 

We have cheap energy. The "let's organise the world by grand design" people try to stop us using it.

The idea the we're killing the soil goes back to the '50s. It was the premise of the Dan Dare comics.

I'll believe it when I see it.

Fertiliser has been maintaining the soil very nicely.

[nikki-red]

We are very good at producing food, the problem is that we are using water much faster than it is replenished.

 

Supplies are constantly being depleted, even in the United States. Agriculture and industry have put increasing demands on the world’s rivers and estuaries. Agriculture alone accounts for 70% of the world’s fresh water use. In a recent article series published by National Geographic, eight of the world’s major rivers were experiencing major depletion. The Colorado River in the US no longer reaches the ocean and barely supplies Mexico with fresh water. The Indus River in the the Middle East is facing a similar problem. The water is being depleted by Pakistan’s agricultural needs before it reaches the Port of Karachi.

 

 

Rivers are not the only fresh water source being depleted. Recently, satellite evidence of severe groundwater depletion was detected in the Tigris and Euphrates River basins. This loss of water totals to a staggering 144 cubic kilometers, most of which (roughly 60%) can be attributed to the pumping of groundwater from underground reservoirs. A study conducted in the Netherlands found that nearly half of the world’s water basins were depleting more than 40% of their renewable supplies. Losses to aquifers and groundwater have devastating consequences, as these sources take a long time to replenish.

 

 

If youre going to copy & paste from other sites, please either post a link or credit the original source.

 

Thank you.

[sutty27]

We have cheap energy. The "let's organise the world by grand design" people try to stop us using it.

The idea the we're killing the soil goes back to the '50s. It was the premise of the Dan Dare comics.

I'll believe it when I see it.

Fertiliser has been maintaining the soil very nicely.

 

The evidence for now appears to contradict your opinion.

[Brian Equato]

It will make for some fairly dull sporting events later this century.

 

"Welcome to the newly inaugurated World capital Riyadh for this the draw for the 2050 FIFA World cup, in group A we have 'The World' and they've been drawn to play...er...umm...I think they've spotted a problem".

 

Be like the socialist chess set, 32 pieces, all grey pawns and all on the same side.

[sutty27]

If youre going to copy & paste from other sites, please either post a link or credit the original source.

 

Thank you.

 

I did.

 

In a recent article series published by National Geographic, eight of the world’s major rivers were experiencing major depletion.

 

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/search?q=water+depletion

[Gamston]

It will make for some fairly dull sporting events later this century.

 

"Welcome to the newly inaugurated World capital Riyadh for this the draw for the 2050 FIFA World cup, in group A we have 'The World' and they've been drawn to play...er...umm...I think they've spotted a problem".

 

Be like the socialist chess set, 32 pieces, all grey pawns and all on the same side.

 

I can't see that happening , next you will be telling us they are going to hold the World Cup in the Qatar desert .

[unbeliever]

The evidence for now appears to contradict your opinion.

 

Does it?

The evidence of history is very much on my side.

 

I have what actually happened. You have some doom and gloom predictions as to what might happen. I've no doubt that there are reasons for concern. But none of these hypothetical problems has ever been addressed by grand design and most never come to pass.

[sutty27]

Does it?

The evidence of history is very much on my side.

 

I have what actually happened. You have some doom and gloom predictions as to what might happen. I've no doubt that there are reasons for concern. But none of these hypothetical problems has ever been addressed by grand design and most never come to pass.

 

There is a large amount of historical evidence which shows population collapse when people live beyond the carrying capacity of the land and they deplete the available resources. Historical evidence also shows us that people will kill each other over resources, or die because of resource scarcity.

 

Even then what happened in the past doesn't determine what will happen in the future, we might develop the ability to exploit the resources of other worlds but I doubt it will be any time soon.

 

We might come up with unlimited clean free energy but I doubt it will happen any time soon, and without the unlimited clean free energy we won't be able to grow the food needed for an expanding population.

 

The most likely outcome of human overconsumption is more poverty, more starvation and more war.

[unbeliever]

There is a large amount of historical evidence which shows population collapse when people live beyond the carrying capacity of the land and they deplete the available resources. Historical evidence also shows us that people will kill each other over resources, or die because of resource scarcity.

 

Even then what happened in the past doesn't determine what will happen in the future, we might develop the ability to exploit the resources of other worlds but I doubt it will be any time soon.

 

We might come up with unlimited clean free energy but I doubt it will happen any time soon, and without the unlimited clean free energy we won't be able to grow the food needed for an expanding population.

 

The most likely outcome of human overconsumption is more poverty, more starvation and more war.

 

No civilisation has ever advanced anywhere near to this point before.

Trade replaces war. Central planning always involves trade restrictions and encourages conflict.

There's a lot more this world has to offer before we have to look elsewhere.

There are now well over 7 billion of us, but our food supply consistently grows faster than our population.