In
1959,
there were 12.16 acres per person, world-wide (i.e. 36.48 billion acres /
3 billion people).
In
2006,
there were 5.46 acres per person, world-wide (i.e. 36.48 billion acres /
6.68 billion people).
By
2039,
there may be only 2.81 acres per person, world-wide (i.e. 36.48 billion
acres / 13 billion people).
The U.S. has 3.794 million square miles, of which 3.54
million square miles is land area (for a fast growing U.S. population of
300 million people as of the
end of year 2006).
That is only 8.09 acres per person in the U.S.
However, only about a quarter of that is arable land.
That means there are only about 2.02 acres per person of arable
land in the U.S.
However, consider that there is only 12 million square miles (7.68
billion acres) of arable land on the planet.
And, ignore for a moment that arable land is being lost at a rate of
38,610 square miles per year.
That is, lets assume no arable land is being lost for the next 33
years. Then . . .
In
2006,
there was 1.15 acres of arable land per person,
world-wide (i.e. 7.68
billion acres / 6.68
billion people).
By
2039,
there may be only 0.59
acres of arable land per person,
world-wide (i.e. 7.68
billion acres / 13
billion people).
However, arable land is being lost at the alarming rate of over 38,610 square
miles (24.7 million acres) per year.
Therefore, by
2039,
there may be only 0.53 acres of arable land per person, world-wide (i.e. 6.865
billion acres / 13 billion people).
At the current rate of loss of 38,610 square miles per year of
arable land, and even if the population didn't grow any larger,
ALL arable land
could be lost in only 310 years (12 million square
miles / 38,610 square miles per year)!
Now consider the following: the sea-level is rising due to
rising
temperatures and melting ice.
The island nation of
Tuvalu is slowly being submerged. The people of Tavalu have
requested permission to move to immigrate to New Zealand.
The islands in the
Chesapeake Bay are being submerged.
Bangladesh's
lowlands farmlands are being submerged and saltwater is seeping into fresh
water systems.
NOTE: For about every foot rise in the sea-level, the inland
flooding is about 100 feet. Many people live along coastlines all
around the world.
Starting to get the picture ?