Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
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governance S 33<br />
which may occur regularly. When <strong>climate</strong> change–driven emergencies<br />
become normal, government must have <strong>the</strong> capacity <strong>to</strong><br />
quickly and effectively rebuild shattered communities and economies<br />
on a more resilient basis.<br />
A fourth implication follows. In <strong>the</strong> foreseeable future <strong>the</strong><br />
food system will become increasingly vulnerable <strong>to</strong> higher<br />
prices for fertilizer, pesticides, and fuels for farm operations,<br />
transport, processing, and distribution. Moreover, <strong>the</strong> stresses <strong>of</strong><br />
higher temperatures, prolonged drought, changing crop diseases,<br />
and s<strong>to</strong>rms associated with <strong>climate</strong> destabilization could reduce<br />
farm output. The study cited above (p. 20) by <strong>the</strong> Consultative<br />
Group on International Agricultural Research indicates that by<br />
2050 much <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> American Midwest will be unsuitable <strong>to</strong> grow<br />
wheat. 25 In o<strong>the</strong>r words, after <strong>the</strong> peak <strong>of</strong> oil extraction and in<br />
a greenhouse world, <strong>the</strong> dependability <strong>of</strong> food supply cannot be<br />
taken for granted. To till, harvest, process, transport, and market<br />
food 1,500 miles from farm <strong>to</strong> kitchen, <strong>the</strong> present agricultural<br />
system is said <strong>to</strong> require a dozen fossil fuel calories for each food<br />
calorie. All <strong>of</strong> this is <strong>to</strong> say that in <strong>the</strong> long emergency ahead<br />
we may plausibly expect that governments once again will have<br />
<strong>to</strong> deal with <strong>the</strong> ancient scourge <strong>of</strong> famine, new technologies<br />
notwithstanding.<br />
A fi nal implication <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> long emergency concerns <strong>the</strong> necessity<br />
<strong>of</strong> mobilizing a coalition large enough and steady enough <strong>to</strong><br />
change our politics, economy, and manner <strong>of</strong> living <strong>to</strong> fi t biophysical<br />
realities. The problem is that many people tend <strong>to</strong> deny<br />
bad news, especially when it is complicated and solutions may be<br />
costly and inconvenient. Improving <strong>the</strong> state <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> environment<br />
has long been that kind <strong>of</strong> problem. From Pla<strong>to</strong>’s observations<br />
about soil erosion in <strong>the</strong> hills <strong>of</strong> Greece in <strong>the</strong> 4th century b.c.<br />
<strong>to</strong> George Perkins Marsh’s observation in 1864 that humans were<br />
everywhere a disturbing environmental force, no government<br />
and no society <strong>to</strong>ok <strong>the</strong> evidence seriously enough <strong>to</strong> do much<br />
about it. The reasons are not hard <strong>to</strong> fi nd. The rate <strong>of</strong> environmental<br />
change was <strong>of</strong>ten slow enough as <strong>to</strong> be virtually invisible