| Livestock Research for Rural Development 22 (2) 2010 | Guide for preparation of papers | LRRD News | Citation of this paper |
The increased public and political focus on global warming has
diverted discussion away from world resource depletion, particularly the
depletion of fossil fuel energy with its potentially disastrous impact
on world food production. According to its own internal whistleblowers,
the International Energy Agency appears to have falsified information on
world fossil fuel depletion-- on the grounds that telling the truth that
world energy resources may already have peaked in production and are
exceeded by demand, could cause skyrocketing oil prices and stampede the
world into a new recession.
Depletion of finite resources such as oil, gas, useable water or
minerals is likely to impact on world GDP well before the worst impacts
of global warming. The two together are likely to constrain world food
production seriously, particularly in countries with high population
densities or insufficient fertile lands. Food security in these
countries is behind the huge “land and water grab” by foreign nationals
that is now occurring across the developing world.
Worldwide, governments have dealt with the recession by increasing
consumption to prevent job losses which has increased demand for scarce
resources, in order to return countries to growth (or business as
normal). If peak oil has already arrived or is imminent, providing
public funds to already damaged businesses that have large carbon
footprints, is clearly irrational. Historically, global economic growth
has never occurred without a simultaneous increase in the use of fossil
fuel energy; GDP growth and world oil production growth have tracked
each other for decades.
It seems that while the IEA expects a steady increase in available oil,
recent, more believable, evaluations of the decline in oil from the
major giant oil fields that are already in the phase of depletion (e.g.
Cantarell in Mexico and the North Sea province etc) suggests that Peak
Oil arrived in 2008 and that by 2030 the production from fields
currently on stream could have decreased by over 50 per cent (Hook
2009).The probable effect will be high prices flowing on into every
walk of life, especially the cost of food with its huge embedded fossil
fuel energy costs. This will inevitably increase financial instability
and produce more recessions.
Although global warming is probably the greatest problem humanity has
ever faced the most immediate issue is the finite nature of fossil fuel
that has supported the presently high standard of living (in
industrialized countries). Without cheap oil there is no cheap food.
There is no cheap water, health care, travel, housing or recreation.
Without cheap energy the world contracts to using local resources and
local activities. As food availability and diversity declines, it may
lead to a decrease in the human population. This is contrary to the
forecasted increase from 6.7 to over 8 billion people in the next 20
years.
Human population increase is often considered the major problem that
will impact on both resource depletion and global warming but
consumerism by the wealthy is presently of major concern The carbon
footprint of multi millionaires can be up to ten thousand times that of
the average person in industrialised countries, which in turn is 10
times that of the average person in developing countries and many of the
1 billion subsistence farmers in the world have almost insignificant use
of fossil energy. There are around 10 million people world wide with
assets greater then a million dollars and therefore have
disproportionate effect on world resource depletion and global warming.
No politicians appear to be willing to address the problem of resource
depletion and yet people are the end users and will be greatly affected
as demand exceeds production for many resources, from rare earth metals
through to energy and water. Politicians and business entrepreneurs
appear to be willing to ignore the dangerous outlook for future
generations, being only concerned with their present wealth, health and
living standards and no politician wants to be the one telling their
electorate that
For the sake of peace and equity it will also be essential to lift
the standard of living of the poor and mandate birth control in all
countries if the floods of refugees that could occur through resource
depletion and global warming, are to be prevented.
Cuts in their use of fossil fuels should be forced first on the super
rich who should pay a high price to pollute the global atmosphere at the
cost of burning of fossil fuels (e.g. flying or owning private jets,
large ocean cruisers, multiple cars and mansions and so on) However it
is essential that everybody, above a minimum standard of living, must
make some sacrifice. Few of us are going to do it voluntarily as it
means giving up too much of our lifestyles for it to be effective in
curbing greenhouse gases to a 'safe' level.
The world needs time to adjust to even the first decade of the second
half of the age of oil The objectives of governments should be to reduce
fossil fuel exploitation and use it efficiently so as to maintain world
reserves as high as possible to allow a slow reduction in populations
and a narrowing of the resource use by rich and poor countries as
society comes into equilibrium with resource availabilities. Traditional
forms of economic growth will be impossible in a resource-depleted
world. We need new forms of growth based upon intellect and human talent
and skill rather than raw materials.
Before any meaningful change of attitudes can take place, society has to
understand that oil is truly finite – and is going to become very scarce
sooner rather than later. Secondly the true cost of the conspicuous and
wanton consumption of this fossil fuel energy must be identified and
acknowledged and appropriate depletion strategies implemented. No longer
should super rich people be able to excuse their extravagant life
styles, by other compensatory actions such as planting trees, as their
carbon emissions not only enhance global warming but will deteriorate
the future standard of living of the populace in general, through
resource depletion.
Key words: Agriculture, carbon emissions, climate change, energy, farming systems, fossil fuel, live stock, oil
First published in Science Alert January 2009 (http://www.sciencealert.com.au/opinions-global-food-crisis/20101401-20498.html)