George,
From out here Earth's problems seem small, right now. Right now there is enough food produced to wipe out Malnutrition. But through waste and a lack of a better way of distributing that food many starve and even more are malnurished.
What do you think will happen in 2050 when the world population will probably reach 9 billion???
gene
ps; check out this shot of the Hubble Telescope