[greenyes] A Green View: Mapping Human Food and Fuel from Space

[Gary Liss <gary@no.address>]

> From: "Bob Hollis" <rhollis@no.address>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 20:16:13 -0700
>
> A Green View: Mapping Human Food and Fuel from Space

a team of researchers have built a map of how much plant-derived resources 
we humans need to survive using a decade's worth of satellite observations 
and some handy computer models.

<http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy//php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=h_map_blue_02.jpg&cap=In%20this%20map,%20a%20region's%20human%20consumption%20of%20%20plant-derived%20resources%20is%20compared%20to%20the%20amount%20of%20resources%20locally%20available.%20Over%20consumption%20appears%20as%20orange%20and%20purple.%20CREDIT:%20NASA.%20Click%20to%20enlarge.>
18af94.jpg

In one map, a region's human consumption of plant-derived resources is 
compared to the amount of resources locally available. Over consumption 
appears as orange and purple.

[]
"Plant life is the primary food source for all the life on Earth," said 
Marc Imhoff, a lead researcher on the study at NASA's Goddard Space Flight 
Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "It's like the biofuel of the planet."

Imhoff and his colleagues found that the global population consumes about 
20 percent of the world's plant life annually, which includes agricultural 
products for food and lumber for fuel, paper and other goods. While it may 
not seem like a lot, only a fifth of the global supply, some conservation 
researchers believe it's a hefty amount.

"I think there's cause for concern," said Taylor Ricketts, director of 
conservation science for the World Wildlife Fund who also worked on the 
study. "In terms of the world's biomass, we're over consuming given our 
numbers."

> For the rest of the story...
> http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/plant_food_040629.html

Gary Liss
916-652-7850
Fax: 916-652-0485