Okay, hold on to your seats, folks. This is a ways out there but...hopefully, it'll get some creative thinking going on solutions. We've discussed the problems of our changing world ad nauseum and accomplished very little. Time to turn our attention to other ways to make life tolerable in terms of what it will likely become.

Instead of worrying about agriculture in areas that will, eventually, no longer be feasible as bread baskets, why not look into the areas that have traditionally been too cold to farm for long? They'll be warming up, the growing season will be expanding, and they'd be a logical 'next in line choice' for expanded agriculture.

Why not consider the realities of enclosed agriculture with water and nutrients fed directly to the root systems of the plants? With the technology we now have, and can be developed shortly, it wouldn't be long before it'd be economically feasible. In an era where water shortages will be a reality for many areas, keeping the 20-80% of the surface water that would otherwise evaporate and recycling it makes a lot of sense.

The idea of using agricultural lands to grow biofuels is a waste of valuable land resources and totally unnecessary considering that other ways of meeting the growing demand are currently available and even better ideas are in development.

The people who will survive and thrive in the years to come are those who cast off old prejudices and actively seek out innovative solutions to the real problems the world faces. Those who aren't afraid to ask seemingly stupid questions will trigger more thought, more ideas, more solutions, eventually.

Sandi Bowman