The Earth`s Glass is Half Full

The Earths' Glass is Half Full En mass, tsunamis, global warming, species extinction, pollution, declining natural resources and earthquakes cause many to ponder if life on earth is ending. For years, we have heard from the environmental community that time is running out, that humans have precariously tipped nature's perfectly balanced scale and the only way to even the score is to sell our SUVs, ride bicycles and recycle our diapers. On the other end of the spectrum exist the doomsayers, who believe our time is up and view each incident of seismic activity as some crescendo to a scene in the great drama of life where the curtain will drop without audience participation. Then there is me&. somewhere adrift between these two extremes with an acute sense of responsibility to leave this earth better for my children's children, without elevating the natural world above the value of human life. That is why I find a voice of reason and hope in a man who calls himself the "Skeptical Environmentalist." Bjorn Lomborg, author of one of the most important books on the environment, The Skeptical Environmentalist and named one the worlds 100 most influential people by Time Magazine actually believes things are getting better. Despite all those biology lessons teaching generations of American youth that the earth's population is exploding and resources' rapidly running out, Mr. Lomborg believes that it is simply not true, " we are not running out of energy or natural resources. There will be more and more food per head of the world's population. Fewer and fewer people are starving" Mr. Lomborg famous for challenging the concept of collapsible ecosystems has more than his share of critics, but when it comes to the agriculture and food production I couldn't agree with him more. Advances in technology have enabled farmers throughout the world to produce more food than in any time in history and remarkably do this on less. Today famine exists not because of production but distribution. Mr. Lomborg's research supports the UN data that poverty has been reduced more in the last 50 years than in the 500 preceding it. In 1970 35 % of people in developing countries were starving, by 2010 it is projected that the number will be reduced to 12 percent. Providing fertilizer to third world countries has been critical in defeating hunger, starvation decreases when fertilizer use increases. Our global economy means sharing mental resources. In one example of many, a mental bridge was built forever linking sophisticated laboratories to the subsistence farmers of the Sahel when plant scientists from Senegal recently attended a plant genomic workshop (sponsored by The Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture). On the issue of global warming the "skeptical environmentalist" is not. Mr. Lomborg rationalizes that global warming could have positive ramifications as well, like longer growing seasons. Call it collapsing ecosystem, long-term trend, or short-term reversal; thirty years ago, Newsweek predicted a decline in food production with serious implications for every country on earth due to world's weather pattern changes, the 1975 article titled, The Cooling World. Recent world tragedies cause many to have a pessimistic worldview. There will be more hurricanes, floods, wildfires and environmental threats, while I do not know what they signify, I do know they unify. I am proud of the fact that here in the United States we have the ability, bounty and technology to aid suffering nations.