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

[Nederland]

34. These ways

Last edited Mon Jan 28, 2013, 03:32 PM - Edit history (1)

1) We grow our food, animals forage.
2) Our food sources are global, not local.
3) Our food is distributed by markets, animals distribute basically on geographic luck.

This combination has created a situation where the people that grow the most food live in populations that are either shrinking or relatively flat. These populations produce way more food than they need to survive, so it is difficult to see why they would ever suffer from famine unless grain production dropped radically and swiftly. All of the things that could effect grain production negatively--rising oil prices, topsoil depletion, climate change--all happen extremely slowly and will impact market prices for food in a way that ensures that adjustments will be made far in advance of when they are needed.