Effects Of Peak Oil On Health Care

In the article,” Why Bother” written by Michael Pollen, he explains how the environment has gotten very bad over time. He talks about sustainability, global warming, and the cheap-energy mind in his article. He tells us that we need to act now before the phenomenon gets worse. Have you paid attention to the environment lately? Have you noticed the rising temperature around the world? Have you noticed the melting of the ice caps? If you haven’t you are about to be in for a surprise. The world has gotten very bad and we need to act now. There are a lot of causes to the environmental problems. The main cause are from farmers all around the world. Farmers are a lot more technologically advanced then what they were 50 years ago compared to now. The problem with the farmers are the overuse of energy, erosion of the soil, and pollution. The answer to all of these problems is sustainable agriculture because it is more efficient and better for the environment.

The global population is expected to reach 9 billion people by the year 2050 and scientific projections indicate that world is on a trajectory towards an environmental and global food crisis. World Leaders, environmental enthusiasts and aid agencies have cause for alarm as they support urgent policies for change, for without them mankind will face unprecedented food insecurity. In 2015 estimates were that there were “some 795 million people” [World Food Programme, 2015], experiencing food insecurity and 3.1 million children under 5 died through malnutrition, while Australians continue to waste an estimated 361 Kg’s of food per person per yr [PMSEIC, 2010, p.44] All the while the earth groans under the weight of Greenhouse Gas Emissions [GHG], deforestation, soil degradation and

Every living organism on the planet has to eat and without farmers that production is lost. Crash Course reports, “Before the Industrial Revolution about eighty percent of the world’s population was engaged in farming to keep itself and the other twenty percent of people from starving. Today, in the United States, less than one percent of people list their occupation as farming” (“Coal, Steam, and The Industrial Revolution”). That leaves only one percent of people to feed the other ninety-nine percent of people in the country. What if something were to happen to this one percent? People are completely reliant on this small group of people to care for them, this must be unbelievably stressful on these farms knowing the demand. If the population continues to grow at it’s projected rate, then starvation will only worsen and America will face a large tribulation as a

Pollan argues that “... taxpayers will pay farmers $4 billion a year to grow ever more corn, this despite the fact that we struggle to get rid of the surplus the plant already produces” (para. 4). This explains that many of the farmers are getting paid more to just grow corn and to over grow them. Pollan vocalizes that “America's corn crop might look like a sustainable, solar-powered system for producing food, but it is actually a huge, inefficient, polluting machine that guzzles fossil fuel..”(Para 12). The corn needs a lot of gas to keep the production going which cause a lot of pollution in the world and, also globe warning. Consumer don't know what type of food or beverages have corn in them most of them don’t even know where their meat or what the animals are being feed because the government is hiding that away from them. Overall, this causes a lot of problems to the next generation and the government still only wants to make money out of the over growing of

One of the main subjects this documentary talks about is the "peak oil" phenomenon. According to many geoscientists, geologists and other members of the scientific community, oil production is supposed to peak. After this peak, we should start to see production drop as the oil becomes harder to extract and refine. Some think that we have already peaked, others think that production is currently peaking. Recently, there have also been some people in the financial industry who are saying that the peak oil

However, some believe, that a shift in the way we produce food may have some unintended consequences. They contend that poverty in nations such as Africa and Asia, is caused by the low productivity of the unindustrialized farm labor. The U.S. Agriculture Department projects, without reform, there will be over a thirty percent increase in the numbers of the ‘food insecure’ people in those nations over the next decade (Paarlberg 179).

Astyk and Newton, in their essay: The Rich Get Richer, the Poor Go Hungry, explains that “around the world, industrial agriculture has consolidated land ownership into the hands of smaller and smaller populations” destroying local self-sufficiency (518). Individuals are no longer able to grow own fresh, healthy foods to feed their family. They now depend on industrially grown crops and processed foods loaded with chemicals for food. Additionally, because of the farm policy, farmers that continue to cultivate healthy produce like fruits and vegetables get little or no government support, thus the higher prices of fresh produce seen today at our grocery stores.

‘Peak oil’ refers to the prime of any field’s production, after which goes into terminal decline. Most major US oil fields are beyond peak oil. The largest US oil field, Prudhoe Bay, has been depleting since 1979 (Prudhoe, 2012). The US Energy Information Administration indicates much production, particularly in the Alaskan North Slope, depends on world oil prices (Energy, 2012). Geophysicists and politicians debate over specifications regarding overall US peak oil, arguing the year in which US peak oil occurred.

“The End of Food” by Paul Roberts was a very interesting book to read and quite frankly a bit frightening. Roberts touches on nutritional issues, governmental issues and environmental issues. It is apparent throughout the book that the food production system is not sustainable. The current food system relies on commercial farming and mass production of products. The mass production of food relies heavily on fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides. All of these practices to produce food at a mass quantity is concerning. Food safety is at risk when fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides are being heavily used as well. Since food is being produced at such a large rate, one would think that food would be cheaper to purchase, but one would be wrong. Roberts touches on un-reasonable food prices as well. Since biofuels are being used at such a large quantity rising energy prices may be another action that leads our food production to crash. There were so many topics talked about in “The End of Food”, that it is impressive Roberts was able to fit all of his views and information on four-hundred pages.

Governments, companies, schools, and organizations are all taking part in the "green movement" to try to help preserve our Earth. Conventional farming is the world's largest contributor to species extinction (MacAvoy). Industrial agriculture has been able to feed the large population of America, but it is taking it is taking a large toll on our planet's environment. "In the United States, the growth, distribution, preparation, and consumption of food uses more energy than all the country's automobiles, planes, trains, and buses combined - about one-fifth of the nation's overall energy use." (Berry) All of the food production companies throughout the world are responsible for more than a quarter of total greenhouse emissions. The food production companies' main

The fact that so much oil is being taken out of the ground is causing problems because the more that is being taken out the higher the prices will be. According to the Toronto Star “We’re going to have a massive crisis as the cheap petroleum runs out” (Zerbisias3). As the prices increase the more conflicts will arise between countries. All of the oil being exported is majorly used for the transportation and production of energy in other countries. All of hydrocarbon molecules that make up crude oil and petroleum products are highly toxic to many organisms, including humans. The Maclean’s journal states that “ If everyone in North America started driving hybrid cars tomorrow, it would contribute just a fraction of the overall reduction needed to cut global emissions 50 per cent by 2050” (Colin2). If everyone around the world would drive hybrid cars it would make a big difference in the world. All of the toxins being released by the crude oil are of the main reasons why global warming is getting worst and worst as time goes by.

Peak oil is described as the point in time when the maximum rate of petroleum extraction is reached, and at this point we assist to a diminution of the resource. Oil is one of the world 's most vital resource, we use it in every aspect of our daily lives, we use it for electricity, gasoline and even drugs. The disappearance of this resource can lead to a major global disaster. In an attempt to identify the potential impact of such a disaster and find alternatives energetic resources, a cloud of researchers started to focus their research around this topic. While the first researches made on peak oil where mostly focused on its plausibility, nowadays researches concentrate on determining the exact period of occurrence, as well as the economic and political impact of this event.

“We’ve got complacency,” he sums up. “So for those reasons, I believe the next food crisis – when it comes – will be a bigger shock than $150 oil.”

epletion of Natural Resources: The effects of overpopulation are quite severe. The first of these is the depletion of resources. The Earth can only produce a limited amount of water and food, which is falling short of the current needs. Most of the environmental damage being seen in the last fifty odd years is because of the growing number of people on the planet. They are cutting down forests, hunting wildlife in a reckless manner, causing pollution and creating a host of problems. Those engaged in talking about overpopulation have noticed that acts of violence and aggression outside of a war zone have increased tremendously while competing for resources.

Because private companies and nations have over-estimated oil reserves it is difficult to be exact but these estimates of world oil reserves are close and further research will reflect this. Also, rapid exploitation may have damaged many reserves' wells and will limit production. It may be that we (the world) have much less than is believed! The United States past its "peak oil" point back in the early 1970's ( for further research refer to Peak Oil Crisis Books) and now imports about two-thirds (2/3) of its oil. The U.S. economy and the current American way of life is supported by energy from other nations. Those nations that have not already past peak oil (maximum production) are very near it. In the future, production will decrease while at the same time demand increases. The spread between supply and demand will cause higher prices (for all products),