ARTICLE TITLE: Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization AUTHOR/SOURCE: Lester R.

Brown MAIN POINTS: The biggest threat to global stability is the potential for food crises in poor countries to cause a government collapse. Those crises are brought on by the worsening of environmental degradation. Food scarcity and the resulting higher food prices are pushing poor countries into chaos. Such failed states can export disease, terrorism, illicit drugs, weapons and refugees. Water shortages, soil losses and rising temperatures from global warming are placing severe limits on food production. Without massive and rapid intervention to address these three environmental factors, the author argues, a series of government collapses could threaten the world order. Every year the Fund for Peace and the Carnegie endowment for international Peace jointly analyze and score countries on 12 social, economic, political and military indicators of national well-being. Both the absolute number and the percentage of chronically undernourished people in the worlds 70 least developed countries are climbing, while the worlds back- up food supply of carryover stocks (the amount of grain in the bin when the new harvest begins) is declining. The spreading scarcity of food is emerging as the central cause of state failure. Food shortages arise out of a tangled web of causes, effects and feedbacks whose interactions often intensify the effects of any one factor acting alone. Irrigation can lead to Severe Water Shortages. Arable land is disappearing. Topsoil, another vital factor in maintaining the worlds food supply, is also essentially a nonrenewable resource. When a nations government can no longer provide security or basic services for its citizens, the results are a social chaos can have serious adverse effects beyond that nations own borders.

AUTHOR'S PURPOSE: The author is trying to inform the readers about food shortages and how a variety of different countries are facing these problems they have never faced. If we the people dont do anything about this then more and more countries will be facing the same problems. The author is also saying that not only do food shortages affect countries, but it is also affecting civilization. We need to conserve our resources in order for these kinds of problems to decrease. MY THOUGHTS:

While reading this article I wasnt really surprised that this was happening because we hear about food shortages/water shortages spreading all over the place. I was just surprised about how fast it is being spread and how it is affecting civilization. I think the government should get involve and be able to help people who are starving because it isnt really fair that people die because they cant find a way to get food.

So What? Food shortages are spreading quickly and may end up causing the downfall of civilization. What if..? What if food shortages werent as bad as it is right now? Would there be enough food to go around?

Says who? Lester R Brown. What does this remind you of? This reminded me of when we were learning about water and how people die from not having enough or any water at all.