EARTH DAY 2018, CAN TECHNOLOGY REALLY SAVE US

HAPPY EARTH DAY 2018

I was reading an article in of all places--The Cosco Connection, 4/18, and was quite surprised at the content. The article, " When technology and farming converge-Food 2.0", describes the emergence of technology to solve the future food crisis-we will surely encounter. The article talked about a company in Encinitas, called: 'Go Green Agriculture":

GARLIC EXTRACT SPRAYING
ROBOT FOR INSECT CONTROL

 http://www.gogreenagriculture.com/Home/ that is leading the way to solve that problem by being very creative. Food grown in greenhouses to eliminate the weather components, and using garlic extract to control insects sprayed by a rolling Robot.
They use 80% less water, and are yielding 20 times the equivalent in field acreage. HOLLY MACKEREL! I know they are also doing this in Iceland with tomatoes and cucumbers at Friedhelmar Farms, and using cell phones to control the drip water and temperature. When Torrey and I were there a few years ago they made the best tomato soup I ever tasted.
So is this the end of famine and starvation? The next green revolution of the 1960s when Paul Ehrlich wrote the end of humanity in the "Population Bomb", only to have it dismissed (or delayed actually) by the Super Rice that saved many Asian countries, etc. What will this new use of technology for Agriculture do...? Less people dying of starvation, that is a good start. This is the world's biggest health problem. According to the United Nations latest estimates in 2013, 25,000 people died of hunger every day. That means more than 9.1 million people, mostly children, die of hunger every year- WOW!

With less land used to produce crops, we can use this arable land for National Parks and hiking--yes!, plus reduce transportation distance of produce to the stores, and reduce erosion, plus add drinking water for direct consumption, etc.
Let's see, more food less poverty? hmmm more free time for pursuits like education, hobbies, family time etc.? Or... and... is it going to be accompanied by a major hot gun --the gain in population as was demonstrated by the "Green Revolution "of the 1960s"? Well, we did added 3.3 billion people to the earth since 1960. Of course we don't even know the carrying capacity of the earth, is it 9,10, or 15 billion? A.O. Wilson a Harvard professor, says somewhere around 9 billion. TODAY WE HAVE 7.3 BILLION PEOPLE.  So at the current rate of population increase, that means somewhere around 2050 will be close to 9 billion people.

HUMAN IMPACT ON EARTH
When I was teaching AP Environmental Science, I used to draw diagrams on the board trying to explain that human impact on such things as: pollution of rivers, lakes and the ocean, more energy required- which required more oil, increase climate change, depletion of natural resources- etc. At the end of the diagram there would be this maze of arrows and lines, and I would always say: WOW, this is complicated, we need to look at the whole picture to survive.  
Just last week I read a disturbing article in the SD Union- 4/13 on a 33' sperm whale that washed ashore in Spain that had 64 pounds of trash in its digestive system--really!!, including: trash bags, ropes, polypropylene sacks, net segments, a drum, among other things-- https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/04/11/a-dead-sperm-whale-was-found-with-64-pounds-of-trash-in-its-digestive-system/?utm_term=.6fe3346aac35

SO WHAT CAN WE DO? We can't just feed more people through technology and not realize the implications. Along with this we need to discuss HOW TO LIVE SUSTAINABLY, along with the use of birth control strategies. And incorporating avenues to educate young people in developing countries, especially women.
The human race is capable of so many incredible things: art, literature, architecture, movies, music, photography, love, compassion, and of course bad stuff to like greed and war.  But I still think we are a species worthy of saving. And now through evolution of technology we have become the STEWARDS or our planet. I am pretty sure the great Messiahs of the past if they were alive today, would be saying: "we need to take care of our home ", one of the most unique places in the Universe.

So let's start off, by celebrating another EARTH DAY, living our lives by setting an example to our friends and family. PS. There is great Earth Day celebration on Sunday, April 22nd at Torrey Pines State Park from 9-1pm. See you there!