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Climate crisis and our food system

Writer's picture: Jason AdelaarsJason Adelaars

The climate crisis is here. Now.


I was 20 years old in 2002 when I first heard the words "global warming" in a college Environmental Science class. My instructor projected the Keeling Curve and explained how the fuels powering our lives emit CO2 into the atmosphere. That excess CO2 was trapping heat, creating a greenhouse effect that would have unknown but likely devastating consequences for future generations.


At the time, the global population was 6.2 billion. By 2025, it's 8.2 billion—a 32% increase in just two decades. More people, more mouths to feed, more strain on a planet already showing signs of stress. My instructor warned that by mid-century, Earth might no longer support its human population. That hit me hard. This wasn’t some distant, abstract issue. This was a crisis I would witness in my lifetime. And so, I found my purpose: understanding the complex interactions between humans and the environment so I could drive solutions that benefit both.


For the past 20 years, I’ve been relentless in my pursuit of knowledge and action. I’ve worked in the field, collected and analyzed environmental data, and used it to inform decisions. I’ve become an expert in environmental data acquisition, designing and managing real-time monitoring systems for soil, groundwater, weather, oceans, estuaries, agricultural runoff, and hydroponic systems. I’ve built data pipelines with embedded quality controls. I can code in Python and SQL with the best of them. I’ve published about a dozen papers in environmental science.

And all the while, I’ve watched the climate crisis unfold.


Droughts, heatwaves, powerful hurricanes, wildfires—each growing more frequent, more intense, more disruptive. In ecological terms, this is disturbance, and it’s becoming harder to recover from. Food and shelter—basic human needs—are increasingly precarious for billions.


According to the World Health Organization, 2.3 billion people—29% of the global population—are food insecure. Yes, agricultural output has increased, but largely through land conversion rather than sustainable practices. And now, farmers are battling extreme weather, soil degradation, and shifting growing seasons. The foundation of our food system is unstable, and we’re only halfway to 2050.


What makes this crisis even more agonizing is our collective failure to address it.

In the past 20 years, we’ve made extraordinary strides in renewable energy—scaling wind and solar, expanding electric vehicles. Yet, despite these efforts, we’ve crossed several climate tipping points. The window to prevent catastrophe has closed. The next generation’s fate is sealed, and with political forces actively hindering new technological development, the next 20 years will be even worse.


That’s why I’ve long said: Stopping the climate crisis is a valiant effort, but adaptation is our only path forward.


We must adapt our food systems. We must adapt to disturbance. We must rethink how we produce and distribute food in a world of rising instability. The future isn’t waiting for us to catch up—it’s happening now. The only question is whether we’re ready to face it.



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