Archives par mot-clé : Famine

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The Great Famine of the 21st Century

by D. Siegel, Nov 1, 2026 in Clintel

The year is 2078. It is year three of a devastating drought, famine, and extreme heat event around the globe. In the last three years, some two million people have perished. It has already been called the most deadly environmental disaster to ever befall humanity.

It started with the worst drought in more than 800 years. First, there was the La Niña of 2076, which brought dry conditions to the southern United States, Mexico, and India. Then a particularly strong El Niño, in which warm winds blew warm waters west along the Equator for a record 18 months — longer than even the 1998 and 2016 El Niño events. This caused a cold-water upwelling off the coast of Peru that was like winding up a rubber band that snapped in 2077.

You may not have heard of the Indian Ocean Dipole — a temperature oscillation related to and influenced by the Pacific oscillation that causes El Niño. In 2077, the thermal contrast between the two halves of the Indian Ocean was the strongest ever recorded. This led to dry conditions in Australia and South Africa.

In the North Atlantic, another storm was brewing. In 2077, the North Atlantic was the warmest it has ever been — far warmer than the moderate temperatures measured back in the mid-2020s. This dragged moist air northward, parching a large part of Northern Brazil.

In 2077, these three major ocean oscillations all coincided at once to create the hottest, driest conditions ever recorded in India, China, Australia, and South America.

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Could this have been prevented?

You’d think so. You’d think people would have listened. You’d think we could have transitioned from fossil fuels in time to prevent one of the worst disasters of human history.

But you would be wrong.

Because this worldwide heat wave and famine already happened back in 1876–78. Everything I just described took place in the 19th century, long before humans started emitting much CO2. Everything I described is accurate. I just added 200 years to the dates to get your attention.

I know this isn’t what you wanted to hear. I know it isn’t what you’ve been told. It’s important for some people to believe in a bleak future, but here is the data:

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unclassified

Scientists Uncover Cause of 1831 Global Cooling Event That Triggered Crop Failures, Famines

by J. Chadwick, Dec 31, 2024 in ClimateChangeDispatch

It’s been nearly 200 years since a global cold snap led to widespread crop failures and devastating famines. [emphasis, links added]

Now, a new study by scientists at the University of St Andrews finally pinpoints the cause.

The Zavaritskii volcano on the remote, uninhabited Russian island of Simushir, part of the Kuril Islands, erupted in 1831, the experts reveal.

The dramatic event injected volcanic ash into the atmosphere, blocking enough sunlight to induce a brief global cooling period.

The resulting change in weather included reduced rainfall from Africa and India to Japan, causing major famine due to poor crop yields.

‘While scientists have long known that a really big eruption went off in 1831, the source has remained a mystery,’ lead study author Dr Will Hutchison told MailOnline.

Dr Hutchison and his team were able to date and match the ice core deposits to Zavaritskii volcano on the remote, uninhabited island of Simushir. Source: University of St Andrews
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climate-debate

The Great Famine of the 21st Century

by D. Siegel,  Nov 29, 202 in Shortfall

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The true tragedy

The problem isn’t the future. The problem is what we’re doing right now. Today, humans spend more than $1 trillion every year on decarbonization, which will most likely have no measurable effect on our future climate. But it does raise the price of energy, and the current virtue-signaling environment prevents people in the developing world from reaching the standard of living we take for granted.

Today, life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa is 60 years — the same as it was in the United States in 1935. Today, about 60 percent of sub-Saharan people are farmers — the same as in the US in 1860. About 500 million people in Africa live in extreme poverty. According to the World Bank, half the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have poverty rates higher than 35%.

And yet, that same World Bank won’t lend them money to build a reliable energy grid. The United Nations and the World Economic Forum are forcing Africans to install solar and wind projects that can’t help them cook dinner, so they continue to burn trees, charcoal, and dung, destroying forests and dying of lung diseases. They are — right now — being forced to live lives we lived in 1850.

Yes, you say, but prices of solar panels are coming down! Imagine you have a car that drives really well whenever the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. No batteries, nothing, it just works. It’s not even that expensive, and it is magically zero emission. Now, can you get rid of your regular car? Or do you need to have your own back-up car for whenever the sun isn’t shining or wind isn’t blowing? You might think you could just rent or use an Uber then, but that’s exactly when everyone else needs a car, too, so you actually have to maintain your existing car, pay the insurance, make sure it’s always available, for those times when your renewable car isn’t possible and the Uber is taken. That’s twice as many cars, no matter who owns them. That’s not “sustainability.”

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Summary

As you have just learned, we live in the safest century to be alive. We are more protected against natural disasters than ever. And we are being lied to about CO2 and climate.

This isn’t easy for a lot of people to hear. It has become a matter of tribal and political identity. I know. In 1991, I wrote a book about how CO2 was changing the climate. But then I dug deeper and realized not everything was as it seemed. When I started to tell others the science wasn’t settled, I lost quite a few friends. If you have read this far, thank you for being brave. I invite you to take the next step at Climatecurious.com.

Resources

Wikipedia article on the Great Famine of 1876

A partial explanation of the ocean oscillations that caused the Great Famine of 1876

Climate and the Global Famine of 1876–78

Climate Curious — a resource for all to learn more about CO2 and climate.

How the British Empire exacerbated a rare climate event.

How the event was covered up (warning: very graphic images) …

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