Food production is concentrated in too few countries, many of which face water shortages, the researchers said.
www.nytimes.com
The world’s food supply is under threat because so much of what we eat is concentrated in so few countries, and many of those countries are increasingly facing a water shortage. That’s the conclusion of three independent studies published this week.
One study, published by World Resources Institute, found that one quarter of the world’s crops is grown in places where the water supply is stressed, unreliable or both.
A second, published by the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, crunched the data slightly differently, concluding that half the world’s food production is in areas where water availability is projected to decline.
The third study, published by the European Union’s environmental agency, found that even some ordinarily wet parts of the continent face a drying trend.
No need to try and assign blame or any of the normal things that both sides are so fond of doing. Not that such a thing will keep those on here from doing so.
For anyone that is willing to put aside their personal partisan politics, this is a problem. We are seeing it in the area where I live, and so far the answer has to be irrigate more, but that of course has its own issues as it over times lowers the water tables.
Over time this will catch up to us and there will be a shortage of food if we do not start to diversify where food is grown and how we are going it. It is not about trying to stop climate change, it is about adapting to it before it is a crisis.
