A group of Swedish scientists have published a global forecast for the next 40 years – startling the public with bleak predictions of how the Earth will fare by 2050. One of the central themes of the report was the forecast of a catastrophic shortage of water suitable for drinking and agriculture, due to its irrational use for raising livestock for meat – which threatens the whole world with either starvation or a forced transition to vegetarianism.
In the next 40 years, the vast majority of the world’s population will in any case be forced to switch to strict vegetarianism, scientists said in their global forecast, which observers have already called the gloomiest of all presented to date. Water researcher Malik Falkerman and colleagues submitted their report to the Stockholm International Water Institute, but thanks to very harsh forecasts, this report is already known to people around the world, and not only in small (and relatively prosperous!) Sweden .
In his speech, Fulkerman stated, in particular: “If we (the population of the Earth – Vegetarian) continue to change our eating habits in accordance with Western trends (i.e. towards increased consumption of meat food – Vegetarian) – then we will not have enough water to produce food for the 9 billion people who will live on the planet by 2050.”
At present, humanity (slightly more than 7 billion people) receives on average about 20% of its dietary protein from high-calorie meat foods of animal origin. But by 2050, the population will grow by another 2 billion and reach 9 billion – then it will be necessary for each person – in the best case! – no more than 5% protein food per day. This means either the consumption of 4 times less meat by everyone who does it today – or the transition of the vast majority of the world’s population to strict vegetarianism, while maintaining the meat-eating “top”. This is why the Swedes predict that our children and grandchildren, whether they like it or not, will most likely be vegan!
“We will be able to keep high-protein food consumption at around 5% if we manage to solve the problem of regional droughts and create a more efficient trading system,” the Swedish scientists say in a gloomy report. All this looks as if the planet is saying: “If you don’t want to voluntarily – well, you’ll become vegetarian anyway!”
One could brush aside this statement by the Swedish scientific team – “well, some scientists are telling strange tales!” – if it were not completely in tune with the latest statements by Oxfam (Oxfam Committee on Hunger – or Oxfam for short – a group of 17 international organizations) and the United Nations, as well as the public report of American intelligence this year. According to the British newspaper The Guardian, Oxfam and the UN have reported that within five years the world is expected to have a second food crisis (the first occurred in 2008).
Observers note that prices for such basic products as wheat and corn have already doubled this year compared to June, and are not going to fall. International food markets are in shock after reduced supplies of staple foods from the US and Russia, as well as insufficient rainfall during the last monsoon in Asia (including India) and the resulting shortage of staples in international markets. Currently, due to limited food supplies, about 18 million people in Africa are starving. Moreover, the current situation, as experts note, is not an isolated case, not some temporary difficulties, but a long-term global trend: the climate on the planet has become more unpredictable in recent decades, which increasingly affects food procurement.
A group of researchers led by Fulkerman also considered this problem and in their report proposed to compensate for the increasing irregularity of the climate … by eating more plant foods – which will create water supplies and reduce hunger! That is, whatever one may say, both poor and rich countries in the not so distant future will have to completely forget about roast beef and burger, and take up celery. After all, if a person can live for years without meat, then only a few days without water.
Scientists recalled that the “production” of meat food requires ten times more water than the cultivation of grain, vegetables and fruits, and besides, about 1/3 of the land suitable for agriculture is “fed” by the cattle themselves, and not by humanity. Swedish scientists once again reminded progressive humanity that while food production in terms of the Earth’s population is growing, more than 900 million people on the planet are starving, and another 2 billion are malnourished.
“Given that 70% of all available usable water is used in agriculture, an increase in the world’s population by 2050 (which is projected to be another 2 billion people – Vegetarian) will put an additional strain on available water and land resources.” While Fulkerman’s rather unhappy report is still dominated by scientific data and theoretical calculations without too much panic, when superimposed on the Oxfam warning, the situation cannot be called anything other than an impending “water apocalypse”.
Such conclusions are confirmed by the report of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which appeared earlier this year, that due to severe water shortages on a global scale, economic instability, civil wars, international conflicts and the use of water reserves as an instrument of political pressure. “Over the next 10 years, many countries important to the United States will experience water problems: water shortages, unavailability of water of adequate quality, floods – which threaten instability and failure of governments …” – says, in particular, in this open report.