doom and gloom

After an 18-course banquet of caviar, sea urchin roe, succulent Kyoto beef, rare conger eels, truffles and fine champagne prepared for them by 60 chefs, the G-8 potentates declared:
"We are deeply concerned that the steep rise in global food prices coupled with availability problems in a number of developing countries is threatening global food security. The negative impacts of this recent trend could push millions more back into poverty." (Statement issued after the July 2008 meeting of the G-8 nations in Hokkaido, Japan.)

British defence analysts have predicted that rising populations, declining resources and climate change will increase the risk of food price spikes and shortages, water scarcities in volatile regions, mass displacement cause by climate or resource scarcities, a possible collapse in fish stocks, and greater risk of civil wars, intercommunal violence, insurgency, pervasive criminality and widespread disorder.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change also said flooding of coastal communities could trigger an even more alarming prospect: "Armed conflict between nations over resources, such as the Nile and its tributaries, is likely and nuclear war is possible."

Professor Julian Cribb, one of Australia's most distinguished science writers and author of "The Coming Famine: The Global Food Crisis and What We Can Do to Avoid It" says co-operation, sharing of knowledge, and the subordination of national pride, greed and fear could stave off the worst, failure to work to guarantee the global food supply would mean catastrophe: