The Causes Of Food Insecurity And Famine Essay Example

This has negative effects on the biodiversity. Industrial food production has been associated with a sharp decline in the agrobiodiversity with is important to maintain the balance in the ecosystem.
Please contrast the advantages vs. disadvantages of genetic engineering and cross-breeding through artificial selection in food production.  Describe green revolutions and what factors might limit them.  Summarize the advantages vs. disadvantages of modern pesticides and herbicides.  Explain three benefits of buying locally grown food.  Describe Jennifer Burney’s efforts to help natives people grow crops in sub-Saharan Africa.

Artificial selection involves a process by which the human beings chose the traits that are to be passed on during breeding. Its advantage is that it allows the humans to an emphasis on the particular traits that are more beneficial such as more production. The disadvantage of artificial selection is that the resulting species is more susceptible to diseases as they may become very sensitive to the environmental changes. In addition, the species may show some unforeseen consequences as in the case of the African honey bees which became very aggressive and have killed some people.

Green revolution refers to the set of research and the development of the technology transfer initiatives that have increased the agricultural production mostly in the developed nations. It most markedly began in the 1960s. Some of the factors that may limit the green revelation include soil erosion, stripping the land of its nutrients, pollution and the decrease in the biodiversity.

Some of the advantages of the modern pesticides and herbicides are that they are used to eradicate some of the insects that pose threats to the crops. In addition, they enable more production to be made

from a smaller piece of land leading to food security. However, the chemicals they contain are harmful to both the humans and the environment. They lead to lung related illness in the humans, the soil health is adversely affected by the chemicals, the crops are of less quality in terms of nutrients, and the pests may mutate making it even harder to kill them.

It is beneficial to buy local foods. This is because local foods look and tastes better because the crops are normally picked when they are at their peak. Second, local foods is best for health because of the shorter time involved between the farm and your table meaning very little nutrients will be lost along the way. Third, local food preserves the diversity as the local farmers use less of the industrialized food production methods.

Jennifer Burney noted that most of the sub-Saharan countries depended on rain for production. Therefore, she advocates for a system of solar irrigation as well as drip irrigation. Solar irrigation is environmentally friendly and the best option available given that sub-Saharan Africa still has electricity challenges.
Please summarize the importance of the Colorado River basin and four problems resulting from stressing this system via human activities.  Contrast the advantages vs. disadvantages of large dams vs. reservoirs, and explain what has happened to water flows in the Colorado River and its delta since 1960.  Explain other problems likely to further shrink water supply in the Colorado River basin, and three possible solutions.  Explain and give an example of a water footprint.  How many people and countries face water scarcity today and how many may face water scarcity by 2050?  How

do scientists use satellites to measure changes in water supplies?

The Colorado River basin is important to the U.S. as it provides it with water and electricity for approximately 30 million Americans. It provides about 15% of the water for the U.S. crops and livestock. It also provides water for the nation’s hottest cities. However, so much water is drawn from the basin so as to grow crops and support the cities. This leads to the decrease of water in the basin.

The advantages of using large dams and reservoirs are; provides the irrigation water below and above the dam, provides the drinking water, recreation, and fishing, produce electricity, and reduces downstream flooding. The disadvantages are; destroy cropland and forests, displace people, large water losses through evaporation, deprives the downstream estuaries and cropland of the nutrient-rich silt, disrupts spawning and migration in some fish, and there is always the risk of failure and there devastating downstream flooding.

Since 1960, the Colorado River has dwindled to just a small and sluggish stream by the time it reaches the Gulf of California. The overdrawing of the water from the basin for crop production is more likely to make the problem to persist. The solutions to the problem will include; the seven states using the river should come up with strict regulations to control the strain on the river, the federal government should phase out the subsidies for agriculture in the region, and sharply increase the price of the river’s fresh water over the next few years.

Water footprint refers to the amount of the freshwater that is utilized in producing as well as the supply of goods as well as services

that are used by a given person or group. An example of a footprint includes virtual water which is the total amount of water that is needed to produce as well as process a given commodity.

More than 30 nations are facing water scarcity at the moment mostly in Africa and the Middle East. It is estimated that in 2050, approximately 60 countries will be facing water shortage.

Scientists use satellites to detect movements of land when the aquifer level fall and rise. The hydrologists then use the information obtained to determine the amount of water that lies below.
Please summarize the problem of groundwater depletion in the US and globally, including lessons learned from overpumping and the Ogallala aquifer.  Describe the potential for using deep aquifers, in addition to four concerns about using this resource.  Describe two large water-transfer programs and the controversies surrounding each of them.  Describe three major limitations to widespread use of desalination, and how scientists are attempting to reduce them.  How can humans use less water to remove wastes?  What is a floodplain, and what are the benefits vs. harms of floods?  Describe increased flooding risks in Bangladesh, and engineering and ecological preventions currently being attempted.

The problem of groundwater depletion is that the Ogallala is a one-time deposit of the liquid natural capital and has a very slow rate of recharge. The deep water aquifers can be used for both human and crop production. However, there are concerns over the use of these resources which is associated resulting from the depletion of the resources, the environmental degradation, adverse effects on biodiversity, and expose to more risk of natural disasters.

The California water project is

one of the largest water transfers. It uses a large maze of dams, line canals, and pumps to transport the freshwater north California to south California, agricultural regions and heavily populated cities. The controversy surrounding the project is that it results in excessive strain on water resource in north California and may result in a significant drop in water levels in the region.
The limitations to the widespread use of desalination include its high cost since it takes so much of the expensive energy to remove the salt from the seawater. Second, the pumping of the large volumes of the seawater by the use of the chemical in sterilizing the water so as to keep the level of algae down kills a lot of marine organisms. Finally, desalination produces large quantities of wastewater that is salty and this wastewater must go somewhere polluting the environment.

Humans can use less water to remove wastes through, redesigning of the manufacturing process to consume less water, recycle the water used in the industries, use drip irrigation, and fix water leaks. Floodplains refer to a situation where freshwater flows and spills in an adjacent area. The benefits of floods are that they have created the most productive farmlands in the world by depositing nutrient-rich silt on the floodplains. The floods also help in the recharging of the groundwater as well as refill the wetlands and thereby supporting the biodiversity and the aquatic life. However, folds have killed thousands of people on a yearly basis and cost billions of dollars of property damage.

In the rent years, Bangladesh has seen an increase in flooding as compared to the earlier years. Many people have

ended up homeless and the floods have destroyed about a quarter of the country’s crops leaving thousands of people to die of starvation. The people in the country have taken precautions by planting a certain variety of crops and rice that can better tolerate flooding, drought, and saltwater. The people are also attempting to develop smaller vegetable gardens in the bare patches between their houses so as to help on the two much dependence on rice. The people are also building small ponds to help in the collection of the monsoon rainwater so as to be used for the irrigation of the gardens during the dry ponds.