Keeping the collapse of civilisation at bay | Letters

Readers respond to Damian Carrington's interview with Paul Ehrlich whose book The Population Bomb was published 50 years agoI read Damian Carrington's interview with Paul Ehrlich and found Paul's analysis to ring frighteningly true (Scientist stands by warning that collapse of civilisation is coming, 23 March). His book The Population Bomb predicted starvation in the 1970s, something that was avoided by the "green revolution" in intensive agriculture. The green revolution was the point at which farmers turned away from natural techniques (eg mixed farms and crop rotation) and instead started using chemical fertilisers and pesticides along with hybrid plants whose seeds could often not be harvested for re-use. This led to higher yields at first, but then to exhausted and polluted soil and increasing debt to suppliers.The role of the green revolution was to "delay the calamity". But at a great cost to nature. So what was humankind's reaction to these developments? Instead of stopping to take stock, we became addicted to the consumerist traits of "cheap and abundant" with no thought for the real cost and inherent risk. Continue reading...