Giant_and_Dwarf-FIN

Giant and Dwarfafter Israel has been for some time Egypt (although more U.S. money has been flowing toAfghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan in recent years).The real tragedy will occur when droughts begin to reduce productivity in the majoragricultural regions of the world. The most important food exporting areas of the worldare central and northern United States, southern Canada, parts of Australia and Argentina,southern Russia and, of course, large parts of Europe, especially France and Germany.The map above confronts us with a suggestive question: how long will the United States,Canada, Australia, Russia or Europe be able and willing to export food? How many moreyears, how many tons and at what price? American analyst Lester Brown recently calculatedthat if a heat wave similar to the 2010 Russian summer heat wave hit the American prairies,the American grain harvest would fall by 140 million tons. To put this in perspective, theentire annual world trade in wheat is in the range of 100 million tons, of which some 30 %usually comes from the United States. 34When such a drought—or perhaps a series of consecutive droughts—hits the centralUnited States or Europe, international trade in cereals will fall considerably. In the worst casescenario, trade could cease completely as a result of export restrictions introduced quite legitimatelyby producer countries to protect their own populations. Russia, for instance, asa response to the heat wave, drought and wildfires introduced a ban on wheat exports bypresidential decree in August 2010. When this happens—and it inevitably will, we do notknow exactly when—not even those MENA countries still able to export oil will be able to buyenough food for their swollen populations. It is difficult to imagine how famines could be preventedin such a scenario. The population bubble built on desert sand and oil will then burst.Palmer Drought Severity Index, prognosis for 2060—2069 decade. Intensive droughts will affect the most importantagricultural regions of the world—central and northern United States, southern Canada, large part of European Union,Ukraine, southern Russia, south-east Asia and other—as soon as during the lifetime of today’s young generation. Source:https://www2.ucar.edu/atmosnews/news/2904/climate-change-drought-may-threaten-much-globe-within-decades34 Lester R. Brown, “World on the Edge” http://www.populationpress.org/publication/2011-1-brown.html.54