National Geographic on the World Food Crisis

There's an amazing and chilling overview from National Geographic encapsulating a brief history of modern agriculture and detailing it's impact on the continuing world food crisis.

It highlights the myriad ways in which our current systems to feed the world are completely unsustainable, and highlights some of the challenging decisions that arise when we are asked to do damage to our planet, promote a monoculture agriculture system entirely dependent on dwindling fossil fuels and big agribusiness, or let people starve.

But is a reprise of the green revolution—with the traditional package of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation, supercharged by genetically engineered seeds—really the answer to the world's food crisis? Last year a massive study called the "International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development" concluded that the immense production increases brought about by science and technology in the past 30 years have failed to improve food access for many of the world's poor. The six-year study, initiated by the World Bank and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and involving some 400 agricultural experts from around the globe, called for a paradigm shift in agriculture toward more sustainable and ecologically friendly practices that would benefit the world's 900 million small farmers, not just agribusiness.

The green revolution's legacy of tainted soil and depleted aquifers is one reason to look for new strategies. So is what author and University of California, Berkeley, professor Michael Pollan calls the Achilles heel of current green revolution methods: a dependence on fossil fuels. Natural gas, for example, is a raw material for nitrogen fertilizers. "The only way you can have one farmer feed 140 Americans is with monocultures. And monocultures need lots of fossil-fuel-based fertilizers and lots of fossil-fuel-based pesticides," Pollan says. "That only works in an era of cheap fossil fuels, and that era is coming to an end. Moving anyone to a dependence on fossil fuels seems the height of irresponsibility."

Personal Credit Defaults Threaten "Glimmers"

from Mish's site, some excellent analysis of rising personal credit defaults and how they could hit the banks' bottom line.

Swine Flu Made in a Lab?

An Australian researcher certainly seems to think so.

The World Health Organization is investigating a claim by an Australian researcher that the swine flu virus circling the globe may have been created as a result of human error.

Adrian Gibbs, 75, who collaborated on research that led to the development of Roche Holding AG’s Tamiflu drug, said in an interview that he intends to publish a report suggesting the new strain may have accidentally evolved in eggs scientists use to grow viruses and drugmakers use to make vaccines. Gibbs said he came to his conclusion as part of an effort to trace the virus’s origins by analyzing its genetic blueprint.

Back at the helm soon...

All apologies for the lapse in posts. I went in for some routine outpatient surgery and ended up spending five days in the hospital with some unfortunate complications. I'm still recovering but am at least back at the computer and should resume normal posting soon.

Gulf Oil Peak

from the Houston Chronicle:

Oil production in the Gulf of Mexico could peak at more than 1.8 million barrels per day by 2013 under the industry’s best-case scenario, but natural gas production will likely continue its decadelong decline, according to a government study released Monday at the Offshore Technology Conference.

About 1.1 million barrels of oil per day were produced in the Gulf in 2008, according to the Minerals Management Service, with about 829,000 coming from deep-water fields — those drilled in more than 1,000 feet of water. Natural gas production was about 6.43 billion cubic feet per day, with about 2.6 bcf coming from the deep water.

Oil production from projects the industry has currently or is committed to starting up could peak at 1.6 million barrels by 2011, according to the agency’s forecast, but if announced discoveries and undiscovered resource estimates are included, the peak could reach 1.8 million barrels by 2013.

....

The Gulf of Mexico accounts for about 25 percent of domestic oil production and 15 percent of natural gas output, according to the agency.

Emphasis added.

New UN Climate Resolution Seems Anemic

from Reuters:

Among developed nations, the European Union says cuts must ensure that world temperatures do not rise more than 2 Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above levels that existed before the Industrial Revolution.

"Submissions so far from all countries are nowhere near 2 Celsius," said Bill Hare, a visiting scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and a director of Climate Analytics.

"Many countries are slumbering through the climate crisis like Sleeping Beauty," Norwegian Environment Minister Erik Solheim said, asked about the gap between the rich nations' offers and the expectations of developing nations.

America's Largest Reservoir is Drying Up

from GOOD Magazine:

Lake Mead stores water from the Colorado River. When full, it holds 9.3 trillion gallons, an amount equal to the water that flows through the Colorado River in two years. The water from Lake Mead is used for many things. It irrigates a million acres of crops in the United States and Mexico, and supplies water to tens of millions of people. Its mighty Hoover Dam generates enough electricity to power a half-million homes. Additionally, the power from Hoover Dam is used to carry water up and across the Sierra Nevada Mountains on its way to Southern California.

In 2000, the water level at Lake Mead was 1,214 feet, close to its all-time high. It’s been dropping ever since. When Lake Mead was built during the 1920s and 1930s, the western United States was enjoying one of the wettest periods of the past 1,200 years. Even today, our so-called drought is still wetter than the average precipitation for the area averaged over centuries. In other words, for the last 75 years, we’ve been partying like it’s 1929. Farmers grow rice by flooding arid farmland with water from Lake Mead; residents of desert communities maintain front lawns of green grass; golfers demand courses in areas where the temperature exceeds 100 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer.

The combination of a changing climate and a strong demand for the lake’s remaining water has resulted in 100 foot drop since 2000. While that’s just 10 percent under the lake’s high water mark in 1983, Lake Mead is like a martini glass—wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. That 10 percent dip represents a loss of half Lake Mead’s water supply in nine years, from 96 percent capacity to 43 percent.