[e3bc54b2]

The modern agriculture just means automating depleting natural aquifers and using up topsoil and abusing chemicals at massive scale. Its the agricultural equivalent of optimizing for next quarter, but losing out on next decade.

[ClumsyPilot]

Ancient equivalent is slash-and-burn agriculture, and famines from crop diseases and droughts. I dont think modern vs oldschool juxtaposition is helpfull

[e3bc54b2]

Agreed, but the scale makes all the difference. What few million farmers were doing manually is now being done by same number of of people (approximating, but could be wrong) using massive industrial scale machinery.

Quick google-fu is failing me with actual numbers, but I would not be surprised if we are using 3/4/5 orders of magnitude of water every year compared to 3000 years ago.

[eru]

How would greenhouses use up top-soil?

[JPLeRouzic]

Some places when seen from planes looks literally as vitrified, for example in Netherlands.

[em500]

One of the largest current national problems in the Netherlands is the overproduction of nitrogen compounds, mostly caused by intensive farming. There's more to sustainability than CO2 and topsoil depletion.