Earth+Day

10th April,2012
The world population is growing by 75 million people each year.That's almost the size of Germany. Today we're nearing 7billion people. At this rate,we'll reach 9million people by 2040.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 big problem. But it's the only problem. We need to face "the other inconvenient truth". A global crisis in agriculture. population growth meat consumption dairy consumption energy cost bioenergy production stress on natural resources More than 40% of Earth's land has been cleared for agriculture. Global croplands cover 16million 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 Irrigation is the biggest use of water 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 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 consequence?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 animal and rice fields over-fertilizing.There is nothing we do that transport the world more than agriculture .And there's nothing we do that is more crucial to our survival.Here's the dilemma. 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 from farm 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 option.How do we feed the world without destroying it?