by Gioietta Kuo July 21 2008
Senior Fellow, American Center for international Policy Studies,  amcips.org

In a new book by Lester Brown: “ Ourgrowing The Earth, the food challenge in an age of falling water tables and rising temperatures”,  he makes the point that  as our population increases and our economy grows, our demand on the earth are growing, exceeding many of planets natural resources to provide food, water and other basic needs for us.  Evidence of these excessive demands are everywhere: collapsing fisheries, shrinking forests, expanding deserts, rising CO2 levels, eroding soils, rising temperatures, falling water tables, melting glaciers, deteriotrating grasslands, rising seas and river running dry.  In fact nearly all these environmental trends affect world’s food supply.

Indeed, we are reaching the limit of what we can draw from our planet.

In recent days, much talk has been concentrated on the shortage of oil and our energy security.   Although  energy is very important to us,  there are in fact much greater phenomena happening right in front of our eyes that will affect us even more – that is (more…)