Earth+day

2012-04-10. Thought-provoking facts from the video: 1. The real problem is population growth. 2.Eating meat uses way more resources, particularly including water. 3."Farm less land, eat more veggies" 4.Climate change is not the only big problem.

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The world population is growing by 75 million people eahc year.That's almost the size of Germany.Today we're nearing 7 bilion people.At this rate we'll reach 9 bilion people.And we all need food.But how?How do we feed a growing world without destroying the planet?We already know climate change is a problem.But it's not the only problem.We need to face "the other inconvenient truth." A global crisis in agriculture:Population growth,meat consumption,dairy consumption,energy costs,bioenergy production-STRESS on natural resources.More than 40% of Earth's land has been cleared for agriculture.Global croplands cover 16 million km2. That's almost the size of South America.Global pastures cover 30 million km2.That's the size of Africa.Agriculture uses 60 TIMES more land than urban and suburban areas COMBINED.Urban and suburban.Agriculture.IRRAGATION is the BIGGEST use of eater on the PLANET.We use 2,800 cubic kilometers of water on crops every year.That's enough to fill 7,305 Empire State Buildings every DAY.Today,many large rivers have REDUCED flows. SOME DRY UP ALTOGETHER.Look at the ARAL SEA,now turned to DESERT.Or the COLORADO RIVER,which NO LONGER flows to the ocean.FERTILIZERS have more than doubled the PHOSPHORUS and NITROGEN in the environment.The CONSENQUENCE?Widespread water POLLUTION and massive DEGRADATION of lakes and rivers.Surprisingly, agriculture is the BIGGEST contributor to climate change.It generates 30% of GREENHOUSE GAS emissions.That's MORE than the emissions from ALL electricity and industry.Or from ALL the World's planes,trains and automobiles.Most agricultural emissions come from tropical DEFORESTATION,METHANE from animals and rice fields and nitrous oxide from OVER-FERTILIZING.There is nothing we do that transforms the World more than agriculture.And there is nothing we do that is more crucial to our survival.Here's the dilema...As the world grows by several BILLION more people,we'll need to DOUBLE,maybe even TRIPLE,global food production.So where do we go from here?We need a BIGGER conversation ,an international dialogue.We need to invest in REAL solutions:incentives for farmers,precision agriculture,new crop varieties,drip irrigation,gray water recycling,better tillage practices,smarter diets. We need EVERYONE at the table. Advocates of commercial agriculture,environmental conservation and organic farming...must work together. There is no single solution.We need collaboration,imagination,determination,because failure is not an optinion.How do we feed the world without destroying ?