The Big Three of the 21st Century--Food, Energy and Water

Here at the beginning of the 21st century, the challenges are clear: the growing population is stressing the Earth's resources to the breaking point. The "big three" are Food, Energy and Water--whose initials ominously spell FEW. Looming shortages make human misery more likely as time passes without finding solutions. Will the 21st Century be known as the Century of Scarcity? Or will we find new technical, political and economic approaches to free humanity from want and discontent?

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Thursday, August 2, 2012

The "local ripple effect" of the US drought

Bloomberg agricultural reporter Alan Bjerga, often cited in this blog as the author of Endless Appetites, takes a trip to the US Midwest to report on the drought's consequences for agriculture-dependent communities and businesses . The same ripple effect is seen anywhere in the world: when drought hits, it isn't just the farmers who suffer. It is instructive, however, to remember that this is happening in the world's greatest food-exporting nation.

The "global ripple effect" will come later--when all those grain elevators are empty with no 2012 crops to refill them.
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