Growth
Garbage Planet
Garbage. On average, each of us deposits over four pounds of garbage every day in waste baskets around the house. That’s about 30 pounds of garbage per person, per week. If we didn’t take the trash out, it would soon fill up our houses and apartments. If garbage trucks didn’t haul it away, it would [...]
Guest essay: Life after growth
Life after growth by Richard Heinberg What if the economy doesn’t recover? In 2008 the U.S. economy tripped down a steep, rocky slope. Employment levels plummeted; so did purchases of autos and other consumer goods. Property values crashed; foreclosure and bankruptcy rates bled. For states, counties, cities, and towns; for manufacturers, retailers, and middle- and [...]
The recession is over! Enjoy the Depression.
“From a technical perspective, the recession is very likely over at this point.” So said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on September 15th, 2009 (MarketWatch). What he failed to mention is that, from a real-life perspective, the Depression is well underway. Bernanke’s “technical” bright spots–home prices and sales are up, job losses have slowed, retail [...]
Earth 2100: ABC’s worst-case scenario
“Earth 2100,” ABC’s two-hour “journey through the next century to explore what might be our worst-case scenario,” aired on Tuesday, June 2, 2009. Through a graphic novel format, the program follows generations of an American family during a 21st century in which “the ‘perfect storm’ of population growth, dwindling resources and climate change converge . [...]
Growth without limits–a false assumption
“. . . Our economy, indeed our entire civilization, is based on an obviously false assumption that we can have growth without limits. Even if we were able to restart the economic engine and push the pedal to the floor, we would not get far before we ran out of gas. And fresh water. And [...]
Will humanity survive the current mass extinction?
The Earth is experiencing its sixth mass extinction. An estimated 30,000 species are disappearing each year, three or more every hour of every day. By 2050, up to 50 percent of all species could be gone. The most recent of five previous mass extinctions was 65 million years ago and caused the demise of dinosaurs [...]
Population triples in one lifetime. Cause for alarm?
The worldwide average lifespan of a human is about 66 years (64 for males and 68 for females). During that average human’s life, say from 1943 to 2009, the total population has grown from about 2.2 billion to about 6.7 billion. Three hundred percent in one lifetime. Considering that scientists estimate it took about 15,000 [...]
Forests grow back, but extinction is forever
. . . “Forests razed can grow back, polluted air and water can be cleaned — but extinction is forever,” reports TIME. “And we’re not talking about losing just a few species. In fact, conservationists quietly acknowledge that we’ve entered an age of triage, when we might have to decide which species can truly be [...]
A glimpse at what’s wrong with this country
“You can get a glimpse of what’s wrong with this country by taking a ride through a huge tract of open land south of Chicago. Some of the land is used for growing corn or soybeans. Some is pasture land.” Thus begins an op-ed piece by Bob Herbert in yesterday’s New York Times. Herbert goes [...]
Evidence TEOTWAWKI is fast approaching
NOTE: This original post was the basis for a permanent “Evidence” page. Click here for the updated page. This post provides examples of the sort of evidence that has persuaded me that we are perilously close to the end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI). No one item makes the case, but perhaps [...]
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