Do you think there will be a WORLD-WIDE famine in your lifetime?

Question

Why, or whynot, please? By the way, this is NOT homework. I'm an adult, currious about peoples thoughts on this subject.

I'm also not stating by saying "world-wide" that every single person in the whole entire world in every single country will be starving. But I am talking about a signifigant famine that will affect most of the world, including 1st world countries, like the U.S.A., U.K. Germany, ect.

Answer 1

no.

it isnt probable.

Answer 2

The simple answer is no: there are too many places in the world that are very good at growing food for famine to show up everywhere. The USA is one of those places, Argentina is another, for example.

However, it is possible that global warming could change a lot. For example, if the entire globe were to warm equally (which it wouldn't), then the crop-growing portions of the world would shift towards the poles. So the wheat growing areas of northern China would become hotter, and might not be able to grow wheat anymore; if they remained moist enough, they might be able to shift to rice. Meanwhile, the wheat growing area of the USA (and Australia, and Argentina, and Georgia, etc.) would shift similarly. Some would probably end up too dry to grow any crops at all (the American Midwest would probably fall in that category).

Unfortunately, those regions farther towards the poles might not be able to pick up the slack: good soil isn't simply dirt -- it requires microbes, worms, fungi: an entire biosystem to support the plants growing above. Land that was recently-thawed permafrost would not be good cropland, probably for many decades. So Siberia and northern Canada might not be good replacements.

But even with these problems, there would probably be enough food to go around. Famines haven't been the result of a lack of food for a long time, just the result of politics: food ends up poorly distributed, usually because the hungry of the world can't pay for food, and so don't represent what economists call "effective demand" in a market system.

However, if global warming hits us hard enough to cause substantial crop dislocation, then all bets are off: the same effect will also be creating other forms of social chaos, such as epidemics of formerly "tropical" diseases, governments struggling to find money to put seawalls around every oceanside city as sea levels rise, nastier and/or more frequent hurricanes, wars over water rights as hydrology changes, epic migration of refugees as large land areas become less habitable.

Is it likely? No. But rational risk avoidance suggests the Minimax approach: work to minimize the maximum possible loss. Since the possible effects of global warming are so staggering (can you say "collapse of civilization"?), it's worth a lot of effort to prevent it.

Answer 3

The way farmers are getting price-raped, I think it's likely that we're going that way.

Why must human be so irresponsible for their own civilization?

Answer 4

Last year it was reported that the bees are dying.

Whether or not Einstein ever did say anything about bees or not, is not the point. Two points are clear. One - bees are dying and Two - without bees agriculture will be severely curtailed.

So, Yes! I think it is likely that we will have a world-wide famine in my lifetime. Especially if our leaders (and the global bankers and corporation owners who are pulling their strings) do not change their priorities.

-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

Across America, millions of honey bees are abandoning their hives and flying off to die, leaving beekeepers facing ruin and US agriculture under threat. And to date, no one knows why. Michael McCarthy reports Published: 01 March 2007. The Independent http://www.heyokamagazine.com/heyoka.7.b...

If the Bees Disappear… World News Desk – March 9, 2007

The vice president of the American Beekeeping Federation said, “Every third bite we consume in our diet is dependent on a honeybee to pollinate that food” "...While beekeepers consider a 20% loss to be normal for a season, losses of 30-60% have been reported this season, and the problem continues to spread. CCD is also being reported throughout parts of Canada and Europe."

(International Herald Tribune)http://www.realtruth.org/news/070309-001...

Ecological Apocalypse: Why Are All The Bees Dying?

10 Apr 2007 ... Studies have shown that bees are not dying in the hive, something is causing them to lose their sense of orientation so that they cannot ...

www.prisonplanet.com/articles/...

26 Apr 2007 ... Science & Technology. Dying bees ... This time, not only is the retreat more common, but nearby bees seem strangely reluctant to enter the ...

www.economist.com/science/disp...

Resolved Yahoo!Answers Question: Why are honey bees dying out ?

In Europe the interaction of the phenomenon of "dying bees" with imidacloprid, has been discussed for quite some time now. ...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_C...

Bees Dying by the Millions » Celsias

Intuitively, my guess is that the sad state of bees dying all over the world at this time is one of the many deleterious effects which are resulting from ...

www.celsias.com/2007/02/27/bee...

Why are the Bees Dying?

Scientists are alarmed and baffled by the honeybee die-off.

www.gardenandhearth.com/Garden...

Mystery of the dying bees | COSMOS magazine

7 Mar 2007 ... The almond trees are blooming and the bees are dying, and nobody knows why. All up and down California's vast San Joaquin Valley, www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/10... - 42k -

Why are Niagara's bees dying?

Theories about why the bees are dying run the gamut from pesticides to poor weather and even radio waves from cell phone transmission towers. www.thestar.com/article/203818

Answer 5

only if big government starts it

Answer 6

I think it is quite possible. It is naive to think that it could not happen to us. There are a lot of people underfed and /or near starving in the world already, we just don't hear much about it. If the climate changes, and if we allow our democracy to continue to crumble further and further away from a democracy in reality, we could find ourselves priced out of the good food market. Best prepare for that now, we'd do well to learn how to grow our own.

Answer 7

This has 100's of times in the past and will in the future.

Answer 8

Yes, I believe our world is changing, and it is time to prepare now before it is too late!

Answer 9

No-We live in land of plenty.  Our government has silos full of grain and corn  they buy from farmers.  They can't sell it our give it away because it would interrupt the market.  With all the genetically modified crops, a famine is highly unlikely.

Answer 10

I think it is less likely to happen with todays technology.  I think an event like that could only happen with a global weather disruption like a larger volcano that cools the atmosphere enough to keep crop type plants from growing.  If the first world countries were unable to grow their own food for a year, that would cause some problems.  Would it take more than one disrupted growing season to cause a famine?  Or would the first world countries be able to buy their food from other countries that are unaffected?  Who knows.

Answer 11

I doubt there will be a world wide famine barring a major war. Yields per acre have increased dramatically. We can now store food so much more efficiently. With corn prices up for ethanol I see fields producing that have been idle for years. As fat as Americans are we could cut our consumption in half and still not starve.

Answer 12

Yes! And probably pretty soon!

   Wheat prices are already rising: we have only ten weeks' supply of wheat stored in the united States. When wheat goes up, everything else goes up with it, because wheat is the base of our food chain-we use it to raise meats, make flours for breads, pastas, etc; without a steady supply of wheat and corn, we're screwed.

   Since prices are rising, some people are already being priced out of the food chain; developing countries that rely on wheat from the United States are already having problems with shortages. If we have a bad growing season this year, by next year, food prices across the board will rise astronomically, and we'll ALL be screwed.

   Sorry, but this isn't really the "land of plenty" anymore.Google "world wheat shortages" and see what you think...and then go stock up on cheap eats while you still can!