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The scary part is that even if you cannot provide food to even, let's say 3% of the human population, it will create massive destabilization, initially in the p
by seren 8y ago
The scary part is that even if you cannot provide food to even, let's say 3% of the human population, it will create massive destabilization, initially in the part of the world affected, then globally. I remember that at the start of the various Arab Spring revolts, protests were about the cost of food.
I have never been to Egypt, and maybe I have a distorted view of the situation there, but I don't understand how it can sustain a population of 100 millions, on basically a thin strip of arable land around the Nile surrounded by a huge barren desert. It can not be sustainable.
- jacquesm 8y agoThe river quite literally brings life to that 'thin strip'. Without the Nile it would be desert.
- SiempreViernes 8y agoFirst of all, the Nile basin covers 32% of the area of Egypt (330 000 km²), which is a bit more than the size of Italy who supports a population of 60 million. Secondly, due to the climate they also get two-three harvests per year.
- seren 8y agoThanks, it put things in perspective.
- jamesblonde 8y agoThat said, they still import nearly 20% of their food - https://tradingeconomics.com/egypt/food-imports-percent-of-merchandise-imports-wb-data.html https://tradingeconomics.com/egypt/food-imports-percent-of-m...
- CrackpotGonzo 8y agoIsn't food instability a contributing factor to the crisis in Syria?
- Balero 8y agoFrom what I understand it led to (young) people leaving the countryside to live in cities. This lead to large congregations of unhappy unemployed young people, all new to a particular area. These people then grouped up and protested about the ruling regime, which was the start of the current crisis.
- CrackpotGonzo 8y agoExactly, that's a good summary as far as I understand it. In other words, we're already seeing the impacts of food insecurity as a result of climate change and it will only get worse from here.
- jtbayly 8y agoNone of the previous comments on this topic indicated that the food instability was caused by climate change. Are you just assuming that?
- Balero 8y agoFrom what I can recall it is due to an overlong drought. This could be due to climate change or not. There are arguments from both sides: https://www.inverse.com/article/25318-aleppo-syria-conflict-climate-change https://www.inverse.com/article/25318-aleppo-syria-conflict-... http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/41428 http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/41428 Also worth remembering that something as complex as the Syrian Civil war is bound to have multiple causes.