4 ms·
The drought explanation seems particularly plausible for the Hittites, IMO. They had grain storage, but ~3 years of drought would exhaust that. So if the clim
by pfdietz 4mo ago
The drought explanation seems particularly plausible for the Hittites, IMO. They had grain storage, but ~3 years of drought would exhaust that. So if the climate becomes just a bit drier the chance of such a three year run increases enough to likely crash their society.
Today we have a huge buffer from the large use of grain to feed animals. In a crisis it could be diverted as human food, with some effort. Large geographic range from global shipping also smooths out blips. Still, a Toba-like eruption would be bad news.
- idiotsecant 4mo agoIt's unlikely that rich countries would experience famine as severely as poor ones and consequently they would probably still demand meat. Grain that could feed people would still feed livestock.
- bryanlarsen 4mo agoA draw down of animal stocks increases meat supply in the short term. As grain gets more expensive, farmers sell animals for meat rather than keeping them to reproduce.
- stymaar 4mo agoBut “As grain gets more expensive” middle eastern countries (that rely almost entirely on import for their grain source) would start facing grain shortage (due to balance of payment issues) or at least severe deprivation of the poorer part of their population. The Tunisian, Egyptian, Syrian and Libyan revolutions didn't occur at the same moment out of coincidence…
- stymaar 4mo ago> Today we have a huge buffer from the large use of grain to feed animals. This, plus the gigantic amount of agricultural land being used for biofuel production (almost as much as cattle food).
- bryanlarsen 4mo agoThe standard counter-argument is that the corn grown for animal feed and for ethanol production is not suited for human consumption. But that's only partially true. We wouldn't eat it directly -- it could still be turned into masa or sugar or some other processed food and then eaten.
- reactordev 4mo agoThe corn grown that’s not for human consumption is only because it’s earmarked for feed or biofuels. Corn is corn. Where I live, 1 in 4 fields is “for human consumption”
- inigyou 4mo agoAren't there different varieties of corn?
- reactordev 4mo agoYes, and they are all edible. But not all are palatable.
- Retric 4mo agoFiled corn is harvested at a different time resulting in a dryer product. But yes if people get hungry enough, field corn easily qualifies as actual food.
- reactordev 4mo agoThere are 4 types of corn. Dimple/dent corn, pop corn, sweet corn, and flint corn. Each variety can be eaten. Prepared differently of course as they have different starches and flavors but the vast majority of corn fields in the United States grow dent corn for feed and biofuels.
- Retric 4mo ago