The current crisis definitely puts human civilization at risk. Agricultural societies came into existence at roughly the current average temperature and were stable for thousands of years. Now, runaway capitalist industrialization is making a mess out of the climate and causing a mass extinction. I am confident humanity can survive, but will agricultural civilization? Last time the climate wasn’t stable, we relied on hunting and gathering for food.
Personally, I think there is hope even if large-scale agriculture becomes unfeasible. Proteins, starches, etc. can be grown in bioreactors. There are also non-bioreactor solutions such as mycoproteins and indoor farms. The productivity of these methods are higher than traditional agriculture and don’t rely on a stable climate. However, they will all rely on maintained supply chains and electricity production that is resilient to heat waves, droughts, floods, etc. as well as having a high enough energy return on investment.
I generally agree, and if we get to the point where we will have to rely on technology for things like food production, then it will be important for countries to have fully independent domestic supply chains because the global supply chains are incredibly fragile. China is probably in the best position for that right now.
The current crisis definitely puts human civilization at risk. Agricultural societies came into existence at roughly the current average temperature and were stable for thousands of years. Now, runaway capitalist industrialization is making a mess out of the climate and causing a mass extinction. I am confident humanity can survive, but will agricultural civilization? Last time the climate wasn’t stable, we relied on hunting and gathering for food.
Personally, I think there is hope even if large-scale agriculture becomes unfeasible. Proteins, starches, etc. can be grown in bioreactors. There are also non-bioreactor solutions such as mycoproteins and indoor farms. The productivity of these methods are higher than traditional agriculture and don’t rely on a stable climate. However, they will all rely on maintained supply chains and electricity production that is resilient to heat waves, droughts, floods, etc. as well as having a high enough energy return on investment.
Even my hopium has me worried. 😰
I generally agree, and if we get to the point where we will have to rely on technology for things like food production, then it will be important for countries to have fully independent domestic supply chains because the global supply chains are incredibly fragile. China is probably in the best position for that right now.