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Course
Description
The production of food to supply the human population has
a large impact on the environment, and this impact is on a
global scale. In this course, we will examine the impact of
global agriculture today on the physical environment (e.g.,
on the water cycle, the groundwater, the climate, the soil)
and on the global ecosystems (e.g., dead zones, decreased
biodiversity). We will also examine the resources that are
required to feed humans in the 21st Century (projected to
increase 50% by 2050) -- who will likely demand a high
protein diet similar to that enjoyed in the US today -- and
the impact this enterprise may have on the biosphere.
A big focus of the course will be an examination of the
effect of subsistence farming and industrial on the global
biodiversity and on the important global-scale
biogeochemical cycles. To illuminate key issues, we will look
at some case studies including: subsistence farming of rice
in Indonesia; industrial wheat and livestock production in
NW Mexico (places I am currently working in); and industrial
agriculture in the US (to illustrate the impact of subsidies)
and Africa (to illustrate the impact of infrastructure
deficiencies and climate on agriculture and food security).
We will also examine the link between protein production in
China and the deforestation of the Amazon to illustrate the
profound impact of globalization and industrial agriculture on
the environment.
We will then examine the demands for food production for
the next 50-100 years and the resources required and
available to produce it: how many people will need to be
fed, and how much land, water, nutrients, etc is available to
feed these people -- assuming various types of diets? We
will examine how global food production is being affected by
the rush to produce biofuels and how it will be affected by
Global Warming. One of the goals of the course is to
envision scenarios for global agriculture that can sustain the
projected human population over the 21st Century, and to
assess the impact of each scenario on the environment.
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Evaluation
The course format will be as follows. I will present lectures
to introduce and discuss important new material and introduce important
tools; discussions and questions are encouraged during these lectures.
Some of the lecture time will be devoted to discussion of readings that
have been assigned.
Throughout the course we will be reading and discussing articles from
general science journals (e.g., Science and Nature). To
facilitate our discussion of these papers, you will provide in advanced of the discussions
a brief (1-3
page) critique of each paper. The critique should include a brief statement of the
salient results, a discussion of potential problems/uncertainties with the
results, and issues that remain confusing to you.
In addition to these critiques, there will be one significant research paper. There may also be some homework assignments and a group project.
There are no exams in this course.
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Required
Readings
"Feeding the Ten Billion", by L.T. Evans. Cambridge Press 1998.
See Also Syllabus
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