Category Archives: Exponential Growth

why life is so normal until suddenly civilization collapses

Walter Youngquist: Geodestinies Exponential growth

Posted on March 26, 2021 by

Preface. I was fortunate enough to know Walter for 15 years. He became a friend and mentor, helping me learn to become a better science writer, and sending me material I might be interested in, and delightful pictures of him … Continue reading →

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Transportation: How long can we adapt before we fall off the Net Energy Cliff?

Posted on August 27, 2017 by

[ I first published this in 2014. After re-reading it when damnthematrix republished it recently, I saw corrections and updates that needed to be made, so here is the improved version. Keep in mind that  I am wildly speculating, there … Continue reading →

Posted in Cascading Failure, Electric Grid, Energy, Exponential Growth, Exports decline to ZERO, Infrastructure, Infrastructure, Net Energy Cliff, Transportation, Transportation | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Limits to Growth? 2016 United Nations report provides best evidence yet

Posted on April 23, 2017 by

This peer-reviewed United Nations report (excerpts below) ought to scare anyone who understands exponential growth. Here are a few examples to think about while reading the report: If 2 grams of gold grew at a 5% compound rate for 2,000 … Continue reading →

Posted in ! PEAK EVERYTHING, Distribution of Wealth, Exponential Growth, Limits To Growth, Organizations, Other Experts | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

The one and only U.S. House of Representatives hearing on Peak Oil

Posted on December 1, 2015 by

[ Enjoy this hearing with scientific experts warning that we will reach peak oil soon (or may have already) because from now on, these experts won’t be invited back.  Instead, House & Senate hearings will mostly have speakers interested in … Continue reading →

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Exponential growth examples

Posted on May 30, 2014 by

Monbiot, George. 27 May 2014. It’s simple. If we can’t change our economic system, our number’s up It’s the great taboo of our age – and the inability to discuss the pursuit of perpetual growth will prove humanity’s undoing. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Exponential Growth, Limits To Growth | 2 Comments

Joseph Romm: we’re stealing from the next 100 billion people to walk the earth

Posted on April 13, 2014 by

Is the global economy a Ponzi scheme, are we all Bernie Madoffs, and what comes next? Part 1 By Joseph Romm, author of “The Hype about Hydrogen” By “paying ourselves” with the wealth from future generations — indeed, from the … Continue reading →

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Exponential growth and carrying capacity

Posted on July 28, 2013 by

Watch it happen — see the populations of major cities grow in these animated maps that reveal in 60 seconds how cities have exploded in size over the last 130 years Al Bartlett, Professor Emeritus of Physics, University of Colorado, … Continue reading →

Posted in Exponential Growth, Limits To Growth | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Oil Production Fueled Population Growth and Food Production

Posted on March 15, 2013 by

As oil exponentially declines, so will population and food. 1994. Elaine M. Murphy. World Population: Toward the Next Century, © 1994 by the Population Reference Bureau, 1875 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 520, Washington, DC, 20009. Property of Population Reference Bureau, … Continue reading →

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Nothing is So Powerful As an Exponential Whose Time Has Come

Posted on March 13, 2013 by

Donella Meadows on: Nothing is So Powerful As an Exponential Whose Time Has Come The reason environmentalists are often so gloomy is that they know what the word “exponential” means. “A lack of appreciation for what exponential increase really means … Continue reading →

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Nering on the Mirage of a Growing Fuel Supply

Posted on March 13, 2013 by

4 June 2001. Evar D. Nering. The Mirage of a Growing Fuel Supply. New York Times. In my classes, I describe the following hypothetical situation: We have a 100-year supply of oil if it were consumed at its current rate. … Continue reading →

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