On rare occasions the acts of mankind seem to conspire with the vagaries of nature to create world catastrophe - such is the impending famine set to engulf the world.
Mother nature has seen fit to deliver drought to Australia and floods to the American food producing mid-west. Hence production in two of the world's greatest food exporting countries has slowed to a trickle.
At the same time, our reliance on oil to power the world car fleet has resulted in such an alarming increase in it's commodity price that food has doubled in price. The oil price shock has increased food production and transport costs, and it's price level has induced farmers to transfer agriculture from food production to crops that can be sold to produce the petrol alternative - ethanol.
The rich countries will grumble at the high cost of food, but they will pay and they will hog more than their share of the diminished supply. The losers will be those who exist on an income of a dollar a day - who will see food retreat beyond their reach.
Hungry people are angry people - and we may be entering a period of unprecedented unrest. World bodies such as the United Nations will try and feed the starving, but we live in a selfish world - and most government's will be more interested in ensuring that their own interests are met than donating to those in need.
Perhaps we have contributed to our own downfall by over populating this fragile planet. Perhaps planet earth is barely able to feed six billion people when nature turns her back and unleashes the twin scourge of drought and flood.
It seems that nature has turned loose the four horsemen of the Apocalypse - and as famine stalks the land we are destined to suffer two inevitable consequences - war - where the hungry try to obtain what food is available - and disease - from the turmoil that follows.
Perhaps the twenty-first may be the unlucky century !
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