Resilient food solutions to prevent mass famine during a nuclear winter in Argentina

Abstract

A nuclear war, a volcanic eruption, or the impact of an asteroid or comet can reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface, upon which the global food system depends. Agricultural yields would plummet due to decreased temperatures and precipitation in an Abrupt Sunlight Reduction Scenario (ASRS). Argentina may play a crucial role if such an event were to occur. This article presents and models a set of response interventions that could prevent famine in Argentina, or even Latin America as a whole. These interventions include redirecting food used as raw materials in animal agriculture and biofuel production, rationing, crop relocation, simple greenhouse deployment, and algae cultivation, among others. Without appropriate adaptations, gross production could fall to 30% of the current level, proving insufficient for the Argentine population. Fortunately, the results indicate that even in a 150 Tg scenario, the adaptations would increase net production from a national famine situation (1500 kcal/day/person) to a production equivalent to 3 to 6 times the amount necessary for the population (7800 - 14000 kcal/day/person).

Keywords

• riesgo catastrófico global
• alimentos resilientes
• seguridad alimentaria
• erals
• invierno nuclear
• argentina