FOOD BOTH INFLUENCING AND INFLUENCED BY CLIMATE

Nowadays, climate and food production have been affecting each other more than ever. Climate change in combination with increasing demands in food production due to growing population, makes finding sustainable pathways urgent.

Over a span of ten years (1993–2013) crops production has increased more than 30% and should double over the next few decades in order to meet the estimated future demands. Present methods to raise productivity involve either agricultural expansion or intensification, both with devastating environmental impacts.

Agricultural area expansion may raise food production effectively but not without cost. Already about 38% of earth’s terrestrial surface is used in agriculture and produces enormous amounts of C02 (emissions have increased by more than 650000 gigagrams since 1990). Further area expansion will not only increase carbon and other greenhouse gasses emission, but also replace natural ecosystems that previously existed. As for agricultural intensification, most techniques to increase productivity involve biocides and vast water use (70% of earth’s freshwater is used in irrigation). All the above results in great energy use and pollution causing climate change.

Consequently, there is a vital need to raise productivity sustainably. Mathematically, agriculture is just another system following the Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule). In simple words, roughly 80% of world’s food supplies come from only 20% of agricultural areas. It is then apparent that if low productivity areas are upgraded then the overall production will raise dramatically. In addition, by using natural fertilizers and increasing their efficiency sustainably by finding the ideal balance between their primary substances, pollution rates will decrease. As for water waste, new transportation and storage systems should be developed to limit water evaporation and there should be found ways to reuse it when possible.

Concluding, solutions do exist. Most of them require scientific research in fields such as engineering, statistics and chemistry. This is why youth, the future scientists and leaders should be informed and motivated about food change. If so, the future may be unpredictable but not unimaginable and definitely not unmanageable.

All statistics were found at http://faostat3.fao.org/