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Ug99 | Water Shortage | Food Riots | Rising Food Prices
As the world's population continues to grow, so does its appetite for cereal grains, which include such dietary staples as wheat. An epidemic of stem rust on wheat caused by race UG99 is currently spreading across Africa, Asia and most recently into Middle East and is causing major concern. The new pathogen goes by the name of Ug99, for the nation-Uganda-1999, the year, which its emergence was formally recognized. This infection is coming, and almost no one has heard about it. Ug99 is a race of stem rust that blocks the vascular tissues in cereal grains including wheat, oats and barley. Unlike leaf or stripe rusts that may reduce crop yields, Ug99-infected plants may suffer up to 100 percent loss. Two thirds of U.S. wheat varieties could be susceptible to Ug99. Also two thirds of wheat grown in India and Pakistan are also vulnerable to this rust, and wheat in China is thought to have similar vulnerabilities. Add to that droughts and floods along with a lot of crop fields being used for growing corn and products that are used to convert to ethanol to feed our hunger for fuel. There appears to be a "perfect storm" coming to bring a wheat shortage and escalating prices worldwide!
The world is running out of water. Humans are polluting, depleting, and diverting its finite freshwater supplies so quickly, we are creating massive new deserts and generating global warming from below. This, along with variations in water availability, means that the water to produce food for human consumption, industrial processes and all the other uses is becoming scarce. Right now there are over one billion people on this planet without adequate drinking water
In North America we don't take this as seriously as we should. Consider this: Providing water free of disease and toxins is ever more difficult, as old methods prove inadequate and new hazards emerge. Shortages have become endemic to many regions, as record drought and population sprawl sap rivers and lakes. Then there's the threat, unthinkable not too long ago, that now seems to eclipse all others: terrorism. Put it all together, and it's easy to see why concern over clean drinking water might someday make the energy crisis look small in comparison
Rising food prices could threaten political stability around the world; food riots are already being reported across the globe. As well as the riots in Egypt, rising food costs have been blamed for violent unrest in Haiti, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal. Protests have also occurred in Uzbekistan, Yemen, Bolivia and Indonesia. China, India, Pakistan, Cambodia and Vietnam have curbed rice exports to ensure there is enough for their own people.
