Nicholas Stern: 'I got it wrong on climate change – it's far, far worse'

[NickB79]

31. You're ignoring topsoil depletion

Yes, we can grow our own food where reindeer cannot, but ultimately we are just as dependent on natural resources as they were, just one more step removed: http://www.seattlepi.com/national/article/The-lowdown-on-topsoil-It-s-disappearing-1262214.php

Also ignored, the depletion of fossil fuels that make it possible to for one man to farm 1000 acres of land and transport/process/package that food to thousands of others from that land.

And the introduction of climate instability that means those previously fertile regions may no longer be so productive in years to come.

I agree that there probably won't be a *sudden* die-off like the disaster movies like to portray, unless we see some outbreak of war or infectious disease. When I refer to a cliff, I refer to a collapse in population that will most likely occur over several decades, likely in the form of a crushing global economic depression that stifles exports of food and fuel to developing nations. Here in the US, I don't expect widespread starvation and war. Africa and SE Asia, I don't know. Since I tend to look at things long-term, this appears as a cliff on any graph that shows timescales in decades or centuries.