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Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CXCI–The Nexus of Population, Energy, Innovation, and Complexity
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CXCI–The Nexus of Population, Energy, Innovation, and Complexity Tulum, Mexico. (1986) Photo by author. This Contemplation comments upon and summarises a paper that discusses the impact of a sudden and significant energy surplus upon human population growth and the complexity that arises as denser populations struggle to meet the stresses they […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XL–The Road Not Taken
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XL February 19, 2022 Tulum, Mexico (1986) Photo by author The Road Not Taken Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took […]
Finite Feeding Frenzy
Finite Feeding Frenzy Image by ariesjay castillo from Pixabay You may be aware that our food industry is heavily dependent on fossil fuels, to the point that it takes about 10 kcal of energy input to deliver 1 kcal of consumed food. The enormous energy multiplier is due to extensively mechanized plowing, harvesting, processing, and delivery […]
8 Billion Souls
8 Billion Souls By the time you read this, the counter above will have probably hit 8 billion (1). Screenshot from World Population Clock World population is projected to reach a new milestone — 8 billion people — tomorrow on November 15, 2022. According to United Nations Population Fund chief Natalia Kanem: “Eight billion people, it is a […]
By wis.dom project: Regress in Progress: My state of mind
By wis.dom project: Regress in Progress: My state of mind Dire Evolutionary Timeline by Blu This is an essay from reader wis.dom project who describes his painful personal journey of connecting dots to achieve awareness of our overshoot predicament. I was born in 1969, at a time when everything still seemed possible. On July 20, two people walked on […]
World population is growing faster than we thought
World population is growing faster than we thought We’ve all heard the aphorism ‘Lies, damned lies and statistics.’ Statistics are an invaluable tool for understanding and responding appropriately to the world, but when the numbers say one thing and the headlines say another, it’s a cause for concern. TOP takes a dive into World Population Prospects […]
Our Impending Impasse and Sid Smith’s New Series
Our Impending Impasse and Sid Smith’s New Series Keowee Toxaway State Park, South Carolina I have a backlog of articles I have started but haven’t yet finished, so I’m starting with this one which has to do with our impending impasse. I think William Catton, Jr. worded that very well. It actually comes from his […]
It’s time environmentalists talked about the population problem
It’s time environmentalists talked about the population problem Credit: Shutterstock In all the talk of tackling environmental problems such as climate change, the problem of population growth often escapes attention. Politicians don’t like talking about it. By and large, neither do environmentalists—but former Greens leader Bob Brown has bucked that trend. Brown recently declared the world’s population must start […]
A life on our planet – review
A life on our planet – review I watched David Attenborough’s film A life on our planet the other evening. The first, and largest, part of the movie was very well made. Perhaps not much new, but very well presented and with excellent footage and narrative. Some images are very strong, even brutal, such as a lonely […]
The population problem problem
The population problem problem A while ago I wrote a post probing critically at the idea that human population levels were at the root of our contemporary environmental problems. It prompted various critical responses in turn, including this one from Alan Ware and Dave Gardner of World Population Balance that’s only just come to my attention. They published it […]
Demographic Doom? Germany, Italy, Korea, & Japan Face Workforce Collapse By 2050
Demographic Doom? Germany, Italy, Korea, & Japan Face Workforce Collapse By 2050 Forget the trade war, debt, deflation, automation, and artificial intelligence: one of the most significant threats to the global economy and the future of the world as we know it is demographics. A new OECD report, published by International Business Times, said Korea, Japan, Germany, […]
Vanishing open spaces: population growth and sprawl in America
Vanishing open spaces: population growth and sprawl in America Before the fossil fuel age began, about 80 to 90% of people farmed to make a living. Since the end of the oil age will send us back to the past, farmland and farmers will once again comprise the greatest numbers of people. So it’s alarming […]
Economic Doom Loop Well Underway
Economic Doom Loop Well Underway From 2007 through 2018, births in the US have declined by 470 thousand on an annual basis, or an 11% decline. The US fertility rate has likewise cracked lower, from 2.12 births to 1.72, an 18% decline (2.1 births over a females childbearing years is considered zero growth). This has resulted in 4.5 million fewer net births in the […]
Census Bureau, Treasury, EIA Detail American Insolvency
Census Bureau, Treasury, EIA Detail American Insolvency Since 2007, US births and net immigration have consistently and unexpectedly fallen sharply. Over the same span, US federal debt and unfunded liabilities have soared while federal tax receipts, as a percentage of the federal debt and unfunded liabilities, continue declining. Total US energy consumption also peaked in ’07 and continues […]
Managing without Growth. Slower by Design, not Disaster
Managing without Growth. Slower by Design, not Disaster It took homo sapiens some 200,000 years to reach the first billion by about 1800. In just the 10 years separating the first and second edition of Managing without Growth: Slower by Design, not Disaster, the human population increased by the same amount putting increased pressure on an already crowded […]
