If a nuclear war broke out between Russia and the US, this plant would contribute to “global food security”
An endless winter, described by researchers as a “nuclear winter”, deadly famine, black night and the extinction of light.., if a nuclear war broke out, we'd be plunged into chaos. Unless we learn to cultivate the extraordinary resource that is algae.
A nuclear war between Russia and the United States? The planet's average temperature would fall by 9°C and virtually all global agricultural production would disappear. The consequences? Those who miraculously survived the bombs would be bathed in unprecedented famine. What's more, millions of “tons of soot would be released into the atmosphere by the exploding bombs”, causing an endless winter.
Fortunately, scientists are already looking into the matter, and an international team of researchers seems to have found the ideal solution: algae as food in the event of nuclear war. Not only could they feed mankind and animals, they could also be used as fuel. Their major advantage? High resistance, enabling them to survive in tropical waters, even after a nuclear conflict. “The researchers focused on Gracilaria tikvahiae. According to them, this alga needs very few photons to photosynthesize. However, even in the event of a major nuclear war, they estimate that the tropics would still receive up to twenty times more photons than necessary at midday,” reports Futura-Sciences. After 9 months of intensive production on farms, the researchers estimate that algae alone could feed over a billion human beings. The only downside: the high iodine content of algae “limits the proportion of algae we can include in our diet to around 15%”.
As well as being rich in minerals, vitamins, proteins, essential fatty acids and amino acids.., they could absorb a large number of contaminants in the event of war.
It's easy to imagine, then, that algae would contribute to “global food security”. However, other work has recently revealed that a nuclear war could completely destroy our oceans... strongly calling into question the possibility of algae becoming our great saviour!
(MH with AsD - Source : Futura-Sciences - Illustration : Pixabay)