Home » Environment (Page 48)
Category Archives: Environment
US Honeybees Suffer Second Deadliest Season On Record
US Honeybees Suffer Second Deadliest Season On Record Figures published today reveal beekeepers in the U.S. lost an estimated 48% of their honey bee colonies in 2022-23. As Statista’s Martin Armstrong reports, according to an annual survey that tracks the state of managed hives, this is the second highest death rate on record after 2020-21’s 51%. You will […]
Capturing Carbon With Machines Is a Failure—So Why Are We Subsidizing It?
Capturing Carbon With Machines Is a Failure—So Why Are We Subsidizing It? Human activity—mostly the burning of fossil fuels—has raised Earth’s atmospheric carbon content by 50 percent, from 280 parts per million (ppm) to 420 ppm. Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, we’ve released approximately 950 billion metric tons of carbon into the air. Every year, humans emit more than […]
Feedback Loops and Unsustainable Systems
Feedback Loops and Unsustainable Systems Mountains as seen from Tennessee Welcome Center I have brought up feedback loops (both positive and negative) many times in this space. I’ve also brought up unsustainable systems in one way or another in practically every article, since they are endemic in human society and at the root of every predicament. It would be very simple […]
It will cost up to $21.5 billion to clean up California’s oil sites. The industry won’t make enough money to pay for it.
It will cost up to $21.5 billion to clean up California’s oil sites. The industry won’t make enough money to pay for it. An expert used California regulators’ methodology to estimate the cost of cleaning up the state’s onshore oil and gas industry. The study found that cleanup costs will be triple the industry’s projected […]
I Warned Against the Green Energy ‘Boom.’ It Sparked Debate
I Warned Against the Green Energy ‘Boom.’ It Sparked Debate Challengers raised points that merit responses. Mine lead to one answer: degrowth. Mining for rare earth metals for ever more battery-driven gadgetry is a vastly destructive and ultimately doomed response to the climate crisis argues the author. Photo via Shutterstock. The best intentions in the world […]
Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change William R. Catton (1980)
Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change William R. Catton (1980) Though, ‘Overshoot’, is ostensibly a book about biophysical limits, the theme that runs through it is about the human propensity for denying obvious facts: Our ability to deceive not only others, but more importantly, ourselves. As with the first review in this four-part miniseries, ‘Farewell to Growth’ (2007), any book […]
The Copper Conundrum
The Copper Conundrum Photo by Denis Yosifov on Unsplash Copper is at the heart of everything electric. It is no exaggeration to say, that our entire “renewable, clean, green” future hinges upon its uninterrupted supply. In fact, according to a recently released report, we would need to mine more of it than what we did during the course of […]
Thai Rice Crop In Crosshairs Of El Nino As Farmers Are Warned About Water Shortages
Thai Rice Crop In Crosshairs Of El Nino As Farmers Are Warned About Water Shortages A disruptive El Nino pattern might impact rice production in Thailand, the world’s second-biggest exporter of the grain that feeds half the world’s population. Bangkok Post reported farmers are being asked by the Office of the National Water Resources “to grow […]
Global Rice Shortage Looms, Set To Be The Biggest In Decades
Global Rice Shortage Looms, Set To Be The Biggest In Decades Rice is the primary food source for over half of the global population, especially in emerging markets, where it plays a crucial role in feeding people. Last year, we highlighted the potential for a severe global rice shortage. A new report reveals that rice […]
MIT Study: Nuclear Power Shutdown Could Lead To Increased Deaths
MIT Study: Nuclear Power Shutdown Could Lead To Increased Deaths A new MIT study indicates that retiring U.S. nuclear power plants could lead to an increase in burning fossil fuels to fill the energy gap, resulting in over 5,000 premature deaths due to increased air pollution. Nearly 20 percent of current electricity in the U.S. […]
The Rising Chorus of Renewable Energy Skeptics
The Rising Chorus of Renewable Energy Skeptics The green techno-dream is so vastly destructive, they say, ‘we have to come up with a different plan.’ Cobalt mining in Congo, says journalist Siddharth Kara, ‘drags humanity back to a time when the people of Africa were valued only their replacement cost.’ Photo via Harvard Kennedy School. “Sometime during […]
Community, Belonging and the Polycrisis
Community, Belonging and the Polycrisis Image: Ad Parnassum, by Paul Klee Wherever I go and ask people what is missing from their lives, the most common answer (if they are not impoverished or seriously ill) is “community.” — Charles Eisenstein ChatGPT, the A.I. robot, often gets things badly wrong It even makes wildly false statements […]
Wheat Spread Hits Record As Drought Plagues Midwest
Wheat Spread Hits Record As Drought Plagues Midwest The spread between hard-red winter wheat and soft-red winter wheat has blown out to a record high as drought threatens crop yields across the Midwest and other major farming regions. Hard-red winter wheat’s premium over soft-red winter wheat is $1.72 a bushel in Chicago on Tuesday morning, […]
‘Wind Power Fails on Every Count’: Oxford Scientist Explains the Math
‘Wind Power Fails on Every Count’: Oxford Scientist Explains the Math A wind farm outside of Palm Springs, Calif., on May 26, 2018. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Wind power has been historically and scientifically unreliable, claims an Oxford University mathematician and physicist, with his calculations revealing the government to be pursuing a “bluster of windfarm […]
