Climate crisis could contribute to a global food shortage by 2050, US special envoy on food security warns
Climate crisis could contribute to a global food shortage by 2050, US special envoy on food security warns
Cary Fowler says world needs to produce 50-60% more food by middle of the century but global heating is expected to reduce yield rates
And all that while 75% of produce is grown for the animal industry. The same animal industry that even without any fossile fuels would exceed the Paris goal. Right now we could feed 10 billion but we feed it to animals.
+2°C from the animal Industry, +2°C from fossile and we are at +4°C where animal agriculture will fail globally due to heat and crop failure.
This needs to be emphasized again and again. As a rule of thumb beef has a conversion rate of 10, pig around 6 and poultry around 3.
So a 200g burger patty corresponds to 2kg of grain. That is enough to feed a family of four for a day.
In the US the yearly meat consumption is roughly 120 kg of which 30 kg are beef. That is equivalent to about a tonne of grain. Enough to feed three people.
So by reducing the meat intake to a third, which is still beyond the recommendations for a healthy diet, the US could free up food for 660 Million people. If the EU cuts its consumption in half, that is good for another 700 Million people and also around the 40kg/year mark. So in terms of feeding the world noone needs to go vegetarian/vegan or god forbid life healthy and we still have a tremendous potential.
That's way too far out. I give it 10 years
Right? News headlines are all Faster Than Expected these days.
We're already seeing crop failure in bits