Today, 821 million people globally suffer from undernourishment. Alarmingly, this statistic has shown increases in the last two years. Climate change effects paired with unsustainable food systems create the perfect storm for global hunger epidemics – what’s it going to take to stop this?
Modern farming practices, though effective, wreak havoc on farmland. Overuse of chemicals and pesticides, excessive tilling, and heavy machinery kill soil and release high levels of CO2 into the atmosphere. For crops grown under these circumstances, the higher temperatures associated with climate change result in slow plant growth, while other extreme weather events decimate the land.
Today, US federal crop insurance encourages farmers to continue planting on degraded land by offering payouts for below-average crop yields. Another Dust Bowl may not be far off. Take a look at this infographic for more on the state of climate change, what it means for farming standards, and how its affecting global nutrition.
[…] Climate change activists would argue very strongly that we’re not moving towards a more sustainable world, and we will admit, there has been plenty of evidence that supports that case. We’re being inundated with articles presenting information such as the ice caps melting, Greenland ice volume dramatically reducing on a daily basis, and the world is heating up more than it ever has done before. The climate is well and truly changing, the last two years have proven that. But we’re looking at all of the evidence that suggests climate change is rapidly increasing. We’re forgetting to look at all of the information that shows how much we’re doing to try and combat climate change. Which begs the question, is anything we’re going to do help now, or are we too far into the climate change process. It has been proven that the world can recover from natural disasters, just look at how densely populated Chernobly is with plant and animal life now that no humans are there. But we can’t wipe out the entire population, and we can’t stop the growth of it. So, we want to explore how we might be moving to a more sustainable world, if what we have done so far is reversible at all. Keep on reading to find out more. […]