Environment Science Individual Group Project Portion Essay

Environment Science Individual Group Project Portion - Essay Example The human suffering that resulted from the ‘Irish Potato Famine’ of 1846 to 1850 occurred predominantly due to the Irish poor being reliant solely on one crop, the potato, for sustenance. Prior to the 1800’s, the Irish grew barley, rye, oats and vegetables, but the 1804 Corn Law of Britain, a tariff imposed on imported grains to safeguard the profit margin of British landowners, changed this. Grains were no longer a viable crop for Irish to produce but potatoes still were. The majority of Irish landowners, the employers of most of the working poor, converted to potato farming. Generally, the poor were paid in potatoes during this hard economic period. Millions trusted their fate to the health of the potato and the stage was set for this calamitous event. In addition, the Irish population had spiked 50 percent in the two decades prior to the famine in the regions that were hit the hardest (Japikse, 1994). In 1846, The Irish climate became wetter and warmer than usual which was conducive for the proliferation the fungus that ultimately destroyed the potato crop. The weather did not cause the fungus but acted to further its progress. The fungus, Phytophthora infestans, arrived in Ireland from Europe the year before and during a more normal weather pattern would have not produced a similar devastating outcome. â€Å"The spores of the blight were carried by wind, rain and insects and came to Ireland from Britain and the European continent. A fungus affected the potato plants, producing black spots and a white mould on the leaves, soon rotting the potato into a pulp† (Ranelagh, 1994, p.111). The 1846 potato crop perished and though potatoes can be easily stored for up to a year by simply being left in the ground, they cannot be sustained any longer therefore no surplus was stored for anytime later than 1847. The poor had food for the