World food systems ‘pushed to the brink’ by extreme heat, UN warns
Posted by Portalrules123@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 48 comments
Posted by Portalrules123@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 48 comments
leisurechef@reddit
You can add the Strait of Hormuz fertiliser crisis to that.
CremeAcrobatic1748@reddit
I love how all these worst case scenarios are playing out simultaneously.
Financial collapse on the verge, BOE this year? AMOC, mass job loss, AI, etc.
I have never been more convinced we exist in some simulation than this year. Even the exponential curve of all these things looks exactly the same.
Hockey stick graph go brrr
dazz_i@reddit
brrr
MavinMarv@reddit
What is BOE?
AutoModerator@reddit
Blue Ocean Event (BOE) is a term used to describe a phenomenon related to climate change and the Artic ocean, where it has become ice-free or nearly ice-free, which could have significant impacts on the Earth's climate system. This term has been used by scientists and researchers to describe the potential environmental and societal consequences of a rapidly melting Arctic, including sea-level rise, changes in ocean currents, and impacts on marine ecosystems.
When will a BOE happen?
Scientists predict that the Arctic could experience a BOE within the next few decades if current rates of ice loss continue. When a BOE does occur, it is likely to have significant impacts on the Earth's climate system, including changes to ocean circulation patterns and sea level rise.
Has a BOE ever occurred?
A BOE in the Arctic has not yet occurred in modern times. However, there has been a significant decrease in the Arctic sea ice extent in recent decades, and the Arctic sea ice cover has been reaching record lows during the summer months. This suggests that a BOE may be a possibility in the future if current trends of sea ice decline continue.
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leisurechef@reddit
But isn’t that just the interconnected nature of the poly/meta/everything crisis?
TernarySquare0123@reddit
Yes, but the education system got rid of systems theory because it was too Marxist.
dazz_i@reddit
brrr
ishitar@reddit
Yeah, we strip all the topsoil off with bad farming practices the smear a thin spread of fossil fuel based fertilizer on top to grow food for 8 billion. Borlaug really deserved all the praise.
This is why the insurance industry predicts 2-4 billion excess deaths in the next few decades from climate change + other systemic risks.
leisurechef@reddit
We could be facing serious famine next year
03263@reddit
Stocking up on can chili, beans and rice
I shall eat like a king
Bavarian_Raven@reddit
Your neighbours will eat like kings.
Lockridge@reddit
Y'all aren't shoring up your neighbors too? Literally only way to get through is community. Acting like a prepper going it alone is silly behavior.
EsseElLoco@reddit
Precisely, the (not wealthy)people who will do best are the groups sharing resources and skills.
leisurechef@reddit
Eggs Zachary, the end of supply chains & states enslaved to US debt
False_Raven@reddit
Why would you add it???
Just subtract it instead, duh. Problem solved
ISB-Dev@reddit
Been hearing this for years. It's another "I'll believe it when I see it".
Dave37@reddit
You're like the people who wouldn't call the genocide in Gaza a genocide because there where still Palestinians there.
ISB-Dev@reddit
Not at all. I have literally been hearing about how we're on the verge of collapse for years now, but nothing ever seems to collapse.
Dave37@reddit
I refer back to my previous point.
ISB-Dev@reddit
Earlier in the month, near the start of April, I was reading that the last UK shipment from the strait of Hormuz was the 10th of April - we'd start to see serious repercussions after then. That was two weeks ago, and I'm still not seeing any effects. The UK government said today that jet fuel stocks were fine and there are no problems with it.
Doesn't add up. There's always a story of "after this date, shit is gonna get real", but it never does. So I'll believe it when I see it.
Dave37@reddit
Then look at this:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cre1r4n5j5wo
atascon@reddit
Ask people in the global south if they believe it and check your grocery receipts over the last couple of years. While you're at it, speak to some farmers and see how they're getting on.
Kazuma_Megu@reddit
That's as much price gouging as anything. Farmers and ranchers are definitely not doing any better, unless you count the fat fucks that sit on the boards of big corporate-owned outfits.
Sufficient-Bid1279@reddit
Then you add all the consolidation and not enforcing antitrust laws. I can’t even afford food anymore but something something capitslism
AngusScrimm---------@reddit
If it were at all possible for corporate giants to control breathable air, suffocation would be a leading cause of death.
MavinMarv@reddit
It’ll be like Spaceballs with the canned air. lol
Sufficient-Bid1279@reddit
Great metaphor and it’s true…they are already monetizing water.
atascon@reddit
Meanwhile here in England, the National Farmers' Union, the main trade body for farmers, has sacked its climate team and taken a decision not to do any work on renewable energy in agriculture. All this was approved (or at least not disputed) by leading farmers from a wide range of sectors. This follows two consecutive years of extremely wet and dry weather.
Heads completely in the sand and using 'government failure' in this area as an excuse.
Only a crisis will spur change and even then other factors will be blamed.
profanite@reddit
I hadn’t heard about this, how terrifying
James_Fortis@reddit
Our choice to consume inefficient foods (beef instead of beans, cow's milk instead of soy milk, etc.) makes this even more tragic. We currently have more than enough food to feed the planet; this is more of a distribution, food waste, and feeding it to inefficient livestock middle-men issue.
billcube@reddit
I can't eat the food eaten by my food, they're so much more than "inefficient livestock middle-men". I'd say self-propelled auto-regenerating grass maintenance no-fuel-needed wonder.
OffToTheLizard@reddit
I totally misread this as you're a self-propelled auto-regenerating maintenance worker, whom was being sarcastic because you mow grass/do maintenance for the uber rich. (i.e. exploited for your labor, not meat)
James_Fortis@reddit
I'm assuming you're speaking about ruminants only? It's true that some ruminants are still on pastures, but the majority now are on pastures that have soil that are perfect for human crops (see the Amazon rainforest for one example). The vast majority of farmed animals are on factory farms, and the majority of ruminants are now fed monocrops like corn and soy; we can grow human-grade crops on this same soil instead.
Here's the largest metastudy on the topic, if you're interested: https://josephpoore.com/Science%20360%206392%20987%20-%20Accepted%20Manuscript.pdf
billcube@reddit
That's the issue. In a country where factory farming is the norm, you get that heavy use of corn and soy. If you have animals in pasture, there is no such need. The problem is not the animal, it's the industrialization of food production. Should it transform to regenerating agriculture, the ruminants are key to a resilient food production system.
James_Fortis@reddit
The metastudy covered 38,700 farms constituting 90% of global calories consumed; it's therefore a good indication of farming as it is today. If you know of more efficient methods that aren't quite yet in general use or haven't quite yet found a viable way of being implemented more broadly, I can't comment on those because I don't have the same level of reliable data to say how sustainable those future practices may be.
raerae704@reddit
Smoke em if you got em
Cool-Contribution-68@reddit
In this economy?
Frubbs@reddit
I'm smoking Jesus
filmguy36@reddit
The coming heat shock. It’s gonna be bad
Dave37@reddit
That's fine, because farming is only a small portion of the world GDP so it won't affect markets significantly.
- Nordhaus et.al.
NyriasNeo@reddit
"one billion people are at imminent risk from these climate-induced food system failures"
There is no risk if you are rich. There are many risk, climate-induced food system failures or not, if you are poor.
In the global north, we waste 1/3 of our food, and we over eat by a large margin as the obesity rate (in the US) is >40%. If anyone is not eating enough, or what they want, it is because of economics, not food system failures.
I bet most, if not all, of the 1B discussed here is in the global south and unfortunately, I doubt most in the global north give much of a sh*t beside a bit of lip service.
billcube@reddit
I'd venture to say that the obesity rate is tied to a food quality issue, that this is malnutrition as well. They could gain a lot (health, resilience, quality of life) by not having the food system controlled by big industries.
NyriasNeo@reddit
while that is correct, no one is getting obese if not for an abundance of calories .. meaning you may be unhealthy, but you won't starve.
Malcolm_Morin@reddit
Almost like we've been warned about this for 150 fucking years.
OutInImage@reddit
At least we won’t need Ozempic anymore!
StatementBot@reddit
The following submission statement was provided by /u/Portalrules123:
SS: Related to food and climate collapse as unchecked, accelerating climate change is already pushing many world food systems to the brink according to a new UN report. Farmers are increasingly unable to work on certain days due to extreme heat, staple crops like maize are failing as average temperatures skyrocket, livestock are dying or surviving but with reduced nutritional value, and marine heat waves are causing already-overfished populations to collapse further. All in all, the UN’s (likely too conservative, as usual) estimate is that one billion people are at imminent risk from these climate-induced food system failures. Given “faster than expected” logic, I’m willing to bet that we will see global famines by the late 2030s at the absolute latest. Maybe sooner if global warming accelerates faster than even I am guessing. Expect mass refugee crises, mass deaths, and wars of various kinds to result as this trend worsens.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/1ssl9xw/world_food_systems_pushed_to_the_brink_by_extreme/ohmmjax/
Portalrules123@reddit (OP)
SS: Related to food and climate collapse as unchecked, accelerating climate change is already pushing many world food systems to the brink according to a new UN report. Farmers are increasingly unable to work on certain days due to extreme heat, staple crops like maize are failing as average temperatures skyrocket, livestock are dying or surviving but with reduced nutritional value, and marine heat waves are causing already-overfished populations to collapse further. All in all, the UN’s (likely too conservative, as usual) estimate is that one billion people are at imminent risk from these climate-induced food system failures. Given “faster than expected” logic, I’m willing to bet that we will see global famines by the late 2030s at the absolute latest. Maybe sooner if global warming accelerates faster than even I am guessing. Expect mass refugee crises, mass deaths, and wars of various kinds to result as this trend worsens.