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Category Archives: Soil
Climate change impacts on agriculture
Preface. There are three articles below on this topic. Alice Friedemann www.energyskeptic.com author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, 2015, Springer, Barriers to Making Algal Biofuels, and “Crunch! Whole Grain Artisan Chips and Crackers”. Podcasts: … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, BioInvasion, Drought, Extreme Weather, Heat, Soil, Soil, Water, Where to Be or Not to Be
Tagged climage change, disease, erosion, food production, pests, soil, water, weeds
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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 … Continue reading
Using manure for fertilizer in the future – it won’t be easy
Preface. At John Jeavons Biointensive workshop back in 2003, I learned that phosphorous is limited and mostly being lost to oceans and other waterways after exiting sewage treatment plants. He said it can be dangerous to use human manure without … Continue reading
Posted in Life Before Oil, Soil, Waste, Water
Tagged eutrophication, excrement, fertilizer, manure, phosphorus, sewage, water
8 Comments
Book review of Dirt: the erosion of civilization
Preface. On average civilizations collapsed after 800 to 2,000 years because they’d destroyed their topsoil. Today, industrial agriculture is doing this far faster – in most of the United States half of the original topsoil is gone from the richest … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture, Peak Food, Soil
Tagged agriculture, erosion, peak food, peak soil, soil
4 Comments
Book: John Perlin’s “A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization”
Preface. This contains excerpts from John Perlin’s “A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization”. It’s one of my favorite books about natural resources, exploring the role wood has played in the rise and fall of civilizations since they … Continue reading
Posted in Collapse of Civilizations, Collapsed, Deforestation, Life Before Oil, Limits To Growth, Peak Resources, Soil, Wood
Tagged civilization, collapse, deforestation, peak wood, wood
1 Comment
U.S. farmers destroy future food production for centuries with modern farming methods
[ Below are excerpts from a devastating critique of current farming practices by the National research council. Here are some of the main points. “Most food is produced by farmers who rely on agriculture for their livelihood. …surveys repeatedly show … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Air, Biodiversity Loss, Climate Change, Groundwater, Limits To Growth, Peak Food, Pesticides, Soil, Water
Tagged air pollution, CRP, erosion, eutrophication, topsoil, water pollution
1 Comment
Peak soil: Industrial agriculture destroys ecosystems and civilizations. Biofuels make it worse.
Alice Friedemann. 2017. Peak Soil. Last update Oct 23, 2017, first 2007 [ Formerly titled: Why Biofuels are Not Sustainable and a Threat to America’s National Security. Shorter versions appear in the following books: Jacqueline Langwith, ed. 2008. “Opposing Viewpoints: Renewable … Continue reading
Posted in Alternative Energy, Biofuels, Biomass, Energy, Peak Biofuels, Soil, Soil
Tagged aquifer depletion, biodiesel, biofuel, climate change, EROEI, EROI, erosion, ethanol, fertilizer, hunger, peak soil, pollution, topsoil
2 Comments
Book review of “1493 Uncovering the new world Columbus Created”
[ This book will be included in the “must read” category of my giant booklist when I get around to updating it. This book isn’t just about the past, the implications reverberate into the postcarbon future. Will slavery return without … Continue reading
Posted in 2) Collapse, Agriculture, Disease, Pesticides, Soil
Tagged ecology, Famine, pesticides, potatoes, rubber, slavery
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Nitrogen fertilizer poses significant threats to humans and the environment
NRC. 2015. A Framework for Assessing Effects of the Food System. National Research Council, National Academies Press. 19 pages. Nitrogen (N) is essential for agricultural productivity, but in its more reactive forms, it can pose significant threats to humans … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Fisheries, Groundwater, Planetary Boundaries, Pollution, Soil
Tagged agriculture, fertilizer, nitrogen, runoff
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