Global Warming Withers World's Food Supply

The Green Revolution that saw farm production soar after the 1940s has come to an end, and with population pressures now surging ahead of food production and increasing damage caused by global warming, humanity is in danger of major new food shortages, reports the New York Times in a lengthy report. Scientists originally thought that global warming would not endanger the world's food supply until around 2080, but new data suggest it is already hurting crops, as weather patterns have wreaked havoc for several years now. “There’s just such a tremendous disconnect, with people not understanding the highly dangerous situation we are in,” said one researcher in Mexico.

As food supplies are pushed to the limit, prices have grown more volatile, increasing world hunger to as many as 940 million people. “The success of agriculture has been astounding,” said a NASA researcher. “But I think there’s starting to be premonitions that it may not continue forever.” There are signs of hope, as new crops and new irrigation techniques are making more land available for farming, from Mexico to India, but new technologies take time. “There are biological limitations on how fast we can do this work,” said a scientist. “If we don’t get started now, we are going to be in serious trouble.” (More food production stories.)