[agentultra]

How about something smaller scale like food waste. We have maybe 50-ish productive farming seasons left before soil is over taxed. If you can get locally grown food to people’s tables with minimum waste for a decent price that ensures everyone is fed that would be far more impressive than failing at Dyson spheres.

Maybe we can find a way to regenerate the soil while we’re at it.

That’s a hard supply chain issue and would have a much greater impact on our survivability.

Or good luck with building a self aware AI that can solve all of our problems or whatever.

[farmin]

That is not true about the soil. Areas in Europe have been farmed for hundreds or more years and still productive.

[wffurr]

I am not sure where the GP gets the "50 harvests" from, but Europe didn't feed 8 billion people for hundreds of years. The Green Revolution aka widespread use of artificial fertilizer didn't start until the 1950s and 60s.

[NateEag]

I believe OP is referring to the impacts of climate change rendering farming unsustainable.

[toss1]

I'm thinking he's talking about running out of phosphate [0]. Phosphate is a critical plant nutrient and mining it has been essential in increasing yields in the last century - it's literally sustained the population growth. The known supplies are running low, and it washes out of the soil on an annual basis so needs to be replenished to keep up yields — or we need to find other sustainable sources. The 50 years correlates with other (very) rough estimates of remaining supplies available to use for the current agricultural paradigm.

[0] https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/phosphorus-is-...

[farmin]

The overarching problem with the statement is soil is so different everywhere. And managed differently everywhere. You can't just make a blanket statement. If I was going to make a blanket statement I would be more concerned with erosion than nutrition because soil is an ecosystem that can be repaired. But if it is gone, then that's a different story.

[toss1]

True, and good point — erosion rates also fit the "50 years and it's gone" prediction

[rdl]

We're also depleting geologic/fossil water like the Ogallala Aquifer far faster than recharge.

[mod]

"before the soil is over taxed"

[macspoofing]

> How about something smaller scale like food waste.

How bout smaller still… like maybe author starts with using ai to organizing their monthly budget, or whatever.