Taking everything else into account as well, the solution, if there were to be any, is a massive reduction of population and thus our harmful impacts on the natural world. This is, of course, guaranteed to happen one way or the other, when fossil fuels deplete, if not before.
What a sobering piece, and what a wonderful gift you have for clarity of thought and power of image. This sentence, in particular, hit me like a wrecking ball:
”It is time to recognise that the human jawbone has become the most destructive implement on the planet.”
That is the most arresting image I have ever read of how our species is literally devouring the planet, and thereby destroying it for future generations and for all the other species we share it with.
Homo egoisticus would be a much better description of our kind than homo sapiens.
Thank you for the time and trouble you take in educating all of us, and thank you for the generous and poetic spirit in which you do it.
You are making a crucial point here, Julian! Whenever there is enough food to sustain the existing population (of any animal), this population will grow. In the early 1950ties the global food system was producing a little more than the 2.3 billion people needed, and population was growing a little - while there were severe famines. The green revolution enable food overproduction, which caused the population explosion. It also enabled companies to make more money by producing more food which resulted in more people. Only if food becomes a public service owned by the communities with no option for someone to make money by producing more food can we break out of this malicious feedback loop before Earth controls our population by limiting the food that can be produced.
It is a terrifying paradox, that the food industry has become such a dark corporate poison. The path of this transformation can be directly attributed to the broken political system, lobbyists, unelected official as decision makers, and corporate ownership of the lifetime politicians and their respective parties.
No more family farms (farm aid) - no more moral compass (Republicans and yes Democrats too) - and no knowledge or awareness of what or how to fix it. Most people are unaware of the real problem and focused on the cult issues of the day as sold to them, to stay focused on, the latest political decay.
Well personally, I source it to the mid-C20th US habit of mass producing everything. They assumed that what works for cars, planes and other machines would work for food and agriculture. Hence the corporate food industry. But the assumption is wrong because food is a biological product, not.a Model T car. So corporatizing food will fail, mainly by destroying its ecological base.
Apart from a handful of multibillionaires who will build heavily guarded walls around parts of our planet so that their offspring can 'thrive' within, should any sane 60 year old be wishing for grandchildren at this point...?
Probable Futures will let you drill down to local level on their maps to see data of how things will (probably) look at different levels of temperature rise. https://probablefutures.org/
Really interesting article, I learned a huge amount and I am hardly "ignorant" about the risks of climate change.
Taking everything else into account as well, the solution, if there were to be any, is a massive reduction of population and thus our harmful impacts on the natural world. This is, of course, guaranteed to happen one way or the other, when fossil fuels deplete, if not before.
It will happen when food supplies deplete - and that will happen a long time before fossil fuels do...
What a sobering piece, and what a wonderful gift you have for clarity of thought and power of image. This sentence, in particular, hit me like a wrecking ball:
”It is time to recognise that the human jawbone has become the most destructive implement on the planet.”
That is the most arresting image I have ever read of how our species is literally devouring the planet, and thereby destroying it for future generations and for all the other species we share it with.
Homo egoisticus would be a much better description of our kind than homo sapiens.
Thank you for the time and trouble you take in educating all of us, and thank you for the generous and poetic spirit in which you do it.
I wish I had a happier subject for any poetry!
Yeah, I know what you mean. But we have to try and make the coming catastrophe real to people and you do a wonderful job of that.
You are making a crucial point here, Julian! Whenever there is enough food to sustain the existing population (of any animal), this population will grow. In the early 1950ties the global food system was producing a little more than the 2.3 billion people needed, and population was growing a little - while there were severe famines. The green revolution enable food overproduction, which caused the population explosion. It also enabled companies to make more money by producing more food which resulted in more people. Only if food becomes a public service owned by the communities with no option for someone to make money by producing more food can we break out of this malicious feedback loop before Earth controls our population by limiting the food that can be produced.
I also think it is time we exchange Bronze Age food production methods for something a bit more modern… See https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/earth-and-environmental-science/environmental-policy-economics-and-law/food-or-war?format=PB
It is a terrifying paradox, that the food industry has become such a dark corporate poison. The path of this transformation can be directly attributed to the broken political system, lobbyists, unelected official as decision makers, and corporate ownership of the lifetime politicians and their respective parties.
No more family farms (farm aid) - no more moral compass (Republicans and yes Democrats too) - and no knowledge or awareness of what or how to fix it. Most people are unaware of the real problem and focused on the cult issues of the day as sold to them, to stay focused on, the latest political decay.
Well personally, I source it to the mid-C20th US habit of mass producing everything. They assumed that what works for cars, planes and other machines would work for food and agriculture. Hence the corporate food industry. But the assumption is wrong because food is a biological product, not.a Model T car. So corporatizing food will fail, mainly by destroying its ecological base.
Apart from a handful of multibillionaires who will build heavily guarded walls around parts of our planet so that their offspring can 'thrive' within, should any sane 60 year old be wishing for grandchildren at this point...?
The guards will eat them…
Probable Futures will let you drill down to local level on their maps to see data of how things will (probably) look at different levels of temperature rise. https://probablefutures.org/
the way out is here cohabitat.org
Not for 8-10 billion people it isn't. fewer than 1 billion, maybe.