Another quick and informative introduction to the problems of over-population and agricultural intensification. Like the nice little video introduction to the importance of biodiversity, if you want to teach someone quickly about why we need to think about over-population, show them this quick video about the other, other global crisis – agriculture.
- 40 % of the world’s land surface has been cleared for agriculture
- globally, croplands cover 16 million km2 (area the size of South America
- humans use 2800 km3 of water to irrigate crops each year
- fertilizers have more than doubled the P and N in the environment
- agriculture contributes 30 % of greenhouse gases