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Tag Archives: ecology
Global Extinction Rates: Why Do Estimates Vary So Wildly?
Global Extinction Rates: Why Do Estimates Vary So Wildly? Is it 150 species a day or 24 a day or far less than that? Prominent scientists cite dramatically different numbers when estimating the rate at which species are going extinct. Why is that? Most ecologists believe that we are in the midst of the sixth mass […]
Shaun Chamberlin on the Ecological Land Coop.
Shaun Chamberlin on the Ecological Land Coop. Food is an issue that galvanizes so many Transition communities, but many of the classic Transition activities around food, like Landshare and Abundance projects, are to some extent ways of making the best of the ever-shrinking space available for ecological growing. Nothing wrong with that, but it meant […]
The Impending Ecosystem Collapse
The Impending Ecosystem Collapse Climate change/global warming is the main protagonist on the worldwide stage of collapsing ecosystems. The ecosystem is a combination of living organisms in harmony with nonliving elements like air, water, and mineral soil interacting as one whole. But, what if the living and nonliving elements stop interrelating as “one harmonized whole”? […]
Marxism, Ecological Civilization, and China
Marxism, Ecological Civilization, and China China’s leadership has called in recent years for the creation of a new “ecological civilization.” Some have viewed this as a departure from Marxism and a concession to Western-style “ecological modernization.” However, embedded in classical Marxism, as represented by the work of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, was a powerful […]
An ecological look at vegetable gardening systems
An ecological look at vegetable gardening systems I’ve examined some different systems of growing vegetables in earlier posts, viewing them primarily from the standpoints of yield (pounds produced per unit area) and inputs required. Now I want to view them from another perspective: that of ecology. What does the science of ecology suggest about how […]
The California Water Shortage: A Case for Aesthetic Ecosystem and Ecological Design
The California Water Shortage: A Case for Aesthetic Ecosystem and Ecological Design A reservoir showing the effect of drought conditions in California In recent news, there has been significant coverage of California’s struggle with its below average precipitation in the past several years. Yes, they call it a drought. Governor Jerry Brown and California State […]
Preempting a Misleading Argument: Why Environmental Problems Will Stop Tracking with GDP
Preempting a Misleading Argument: Why Environmental Problems Will Stop Tracking with GDP I hate to say I told you so, and could be too dead to do so, so I’ll tell you in advance: One decade soon, environmental problems will stop tracking with GDP. But the reasons? Well, they probably aren’t what you think, especially […]
The systems view of life – a unifying vision (part 2)
The systems view of life – a unifying vision (part 2) In this episode I have the great honor of connecting with scientist, educator, activist, and author Fritjof CapraP.hd. He was born in Vienna, and studied physics and systems theory, and became well known for his first book,The Tao of Physics (1975). In this book, and in […]
Commentary on Bounding the Planetary Future: Why We Need a Great Transition
Commentary on Bounding the Planetary Future: Why We Need a Great Transition “Planetary boundaries” research constitutes an important advance in our ability to identify and quantify the components of global overshoot. Permit me to suggest that all presentations on planetary boundaries should include a discussion of Liebig’s Law—an ecological truism that can be boiled down to “a […]
Adjusting the Fifth to a Finite Planet, Part II
Adjusting the Fifth to a Finite Planet, Part II Editor’s Note: This is the second piece of a two-part post. You can read Part 1 here. Among the avenues by which Takings case law could be adapted to the reality of a finite planet are these three: One: Change the default by changing the definition of […]
Land Literacy
Land Literacy How many people could recognize an ecological wound if they saw one? Could we tell a natural arroyo from an eroding gully? Could we tell if plant pedestaling was a sign of proper land function or a sign of erosion? If we recognized a headcut in a wet meadow, would we be able […]
Radical experiment in land regeneration at Western Australia’s Wooleen Station proves successful – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Radical experiment in land regeneration at Western Australia’s Wooleen Station proves successful – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). As drought tightens its grip on Western Australia, one young couple’s radical experiment in land regeneration has survived years of next to no rain. David Pollock and Frances Jones manage Wooleen Station, a half-million acre property in […]
Are We Hard-Wired to Think We Can Grow Forever? « Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy
Are We Hard-Wired to Think We Can Grow Forever? « Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy. Humanity is an irrational lot, prone to denial and short-termism. If rational arguments were primary catalysts for social change, perhaps a steady state economy would already be a reality. Research in behavioural economics and cognitive psychology […]
