Water, Energy, and Food – How Shortages Are Affecting Us All

For his final project in his Environmental Horticulture class, I’m helping my son write a paper called “Water, Energy, and Food – How Shortages Are Affecting Us All,” and I thought readers may be interested in how we’re attacking the challenge.  Here’s a short note to him, suggesting that he answer certain critical questions:

• When we say there is a “water shortage,” what exactly do we mean?  Is there less water on this planet now than there has been in the past?

• What causes shortages of potable water in certain places?  Discuss droughts, floods, saltwater intrusion, and desertification.  What are the causes of the problems that are occurring here?

• What is the relationship between water shortages and food shortages?  Provide some historical examples, and cite references that point to the future.  Since this is a paper on environmental horticulture, you’ll need to make this section quite robust.

• Are there “vicious cycles” at work here where bad phenomenon “A” causes bad phenomenon “B,” which in turn makes “A” even worse?  Cite examples.

• Examine our practice of eating meat.  What are the issues here that pertain to sustainability?  Why exactly is growing meat so much harder on the environment than growing vegetables?

• Discuss the role of energy in all this, as it applies to moving water around, purifying water, creating fertilizer, and the planting, harvesting, processing, and transporting of food.  How far does the typical food item come between the point it was grown and the point it’s consumed?  What are the energy implications of all this?  Discuss the movement in the direction of locally grown food.

• Provide a short section on aquaponics and aeroponics.

• What role does population growth play?  What’s the current population of Earth, and where will it be by 2050?  On top of population growth, how is our overall consumption of energy per capita changing?

• Are there cultural issues at play here?  Who consumes the most energy per capita?  The least?  Who consumes the dirtiest forms of energy?  Is there any chance of improving this?

• What are the various sources of energy?  Which ones are sustainable, and which ones aren’t?

• Why can’t we get rid of all forms of energy that aren’t sustainable?

• In summary, what would you do if you were king of the world to alleviate the issues associated with energy, water, and food?    Of course, you’re not the king of the world, but that doesn’t mean you don’t make a difference.  What should all citizens be doing about this?

This has the potential to be a truly excellent paper.  Go for it!