ESCI 1012 Lecture 23: April 19
Document Summary
Bengal famine of 1770 left 10 million dead. Great famine of 1876 and in 1988 saw 5 million more dead. Bengal famine of 1943 left 2 to 4 more dead. But, i(cid:290) (cid:799)9(cid:804)(cid:798)(cid:910)s, nor(cid:289)a(cid:290) borlaug fro(cid:289) u of m led gree(cid:290) re(cid:362)olutio(cid:290) Amount of food went up by a factor of 4. Developed a short stem, high-yield, disease-resistant wheat. Estimated to have saved nearly a billion lives over the years. China, with large population, is also vulnerable. 9. 5 million died in drought of 1977 (same time as 5 million in india) But for a real disaster, you often need a human component. Drought in 1958-(cid:804)(cid:799) coi(cid:290)cided (cid:363)ith mao zedo(cid:290)g(cid:910)s atte(cid:289)pt to (cid:289)o(cid:362)e peasa(cid:290)ts off far(cid:289)s to quickly transform china from agricultural to industrial economy. Resulted in 36 to 45 million deaths (and greatly reduced birth rate) took away farmers, decreased agricultural base to increase industrial. Total loss of population: 75 to 85 million.
