Food for Thought
“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.”
Galileo Galilei
Tag Archives: population
How not to end world hunger
Food prices are rising. Again. And the scramble is on to figure out who to blame: climate change? Biofuels? Good old capitalist greed? Just this morning the New York Times published a discussion panel on the issue: “Is the world … Continue reading
Who pays for overfishing? Poor people in Africa (and elsewhere)
[Based in part on my evaluation for the Faculty of 1000, accessible only by subscription I'm afraid] The pervasive detrimental impacts of overfishing on marine life and ecosystems have been widely publicized in recent years, ratcheting up calls for stricter … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Oceans, Science, Sustainability
Tagged economics, fishing, food, population, research
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The world with us
Alan Weisman recently published a book that got a lot of press attention for its novelty idea of considering The World Without Us — that is, what earth would look like if some unlikely event wiped out humans and left … Continue reading
Approaching the ultimate limits?
As an academic ecologist researching or teaching about ecosystems, a common dilemma is the issue of how to define the boundaries of a system. Where, for example, does the Chesapeake Bay end and the Atlantic begin? What is the edge … Continue reading
Getting to the root of the problem
Question: What is more fundamental to sustainability than fixing climate change, even more certain to lead to catastrophe if unfixed, far more politically sensitive, but even more essential to passing on a habitable planet to our grandchildren and their children? … Continue reading
We have met the enemy . . . and they is us
Why is the world in the trouble that it’s in? We could cite a long litany of reasons, but ultimately it boils down to the large and increasing number of people on earth, and our large and increasing appetites, broadly … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Biophilia, Science, Sustainability
Tagged population, research
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Biodiversity and the limits to growth
We hear frequently in the news these days that earth is in the midst of a mass extinction. To many people this is difficult to believe, thanks in part to the vigorous efforts at obfuscation by the likes of Bjorn … Continue reading
Declining ocean health: It’s the economy, stupid
I know, I used the same subtitle for another recent post. But I’m not recycling titles out of laziness — well, not entirely anyway. I do so here to highlight the simple, yet perversely (and perhaps intentionally) misunderstood theme whose centrality … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Oceans, Politics, Sustainability
Tagged economics, fishing, food, natural capital, population, research
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Can we afford to save the world?
The environmental problems the world faces are daunting. One often hears that the economic costs involved in resource conservation, reforestation, transition to a new energy regime, and so forth are so high that solving them is simply too expensive. But this … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Sustainability
Tagged climate, economics, energy, food, happiness, health, natural capital, population, restoration
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Ocean biodiversity and the future of seafood
[NOTE: This is a copy of my essay in the April 2007 issue of Food Technology Magazine] Harvesting of wild fish and shellfish from the oceans provides a major source of protein to the planet’s population, and supports an industry … Continue reading
