Category Archives: Peak Food

Food production, population, and carrying capacity will also be reduced by peak soil, peak water, bioinvasion, pollution, climate change, loss of biodiversity, war, infrastructure decay and nearly every other category at energyskeptic

Mineral: Soil from Ugo Bardi’s “Extracted”

Posted on June 8, 2017 by

Preface. Ugo Bardi’s book on minerals covers a wide-ranging territory, including soil, which is a mineral.  In this section of the book he shows how humans have damaged the soil so much we have greatly overshot carrying capacity by lowering … Continue reading →

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After a collapse will people grow their own food or plunder others?

Posted on March 7, 2017 by

[ In this post Ugo Bardi looks at what will happen if society collapses and we have to suddenly go back to pre-industrial agriculture conditions.  A back to the land movement where people grow their own food may not happen. … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Peak Food, Phosphorus, Scientists, Soil, Ugo Bardi | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

After the harvest – protecting food from rats, mold, insects, fire, and bacteria

Posted on January 28, 2017 by

Preface. Post-harvest storage in the U.S. consists of gigantic grain elevators, some so huge they can store enough grain for most of the U.S. for weeks at a time. These silos are highly energy-intensive and far apart, requiring legions of … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture, Books, Peak Food | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Are humans an invasive species?

Posted on October 22, 2016 by

Rob Jordan. April 5, 2016. Populations of early human settlers grew like an ‘invasive species,’ Stanford researchers find. Stanford University. When humans colonized South America, their populations grew like a typical invasive species – an initial explosive growth rapidly reached … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity Loss, BioInvasion, Peak Food | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Fruit and nut crops decline as climate change melts fog

Posted on October 16, 2016 by

Fimrite, P. May 22, 2014. As Central Valley fog disappears, fruit, nut crops decline. San Francisco Chronicle. California produces 95% of U.S. fruit and nut crops that depend on disappearing Tule fog. The soupy thick tule fog that regularly blanketed … Continue reading →

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Peak food. Sustainability challenged as many renewable resources max out

Posted on October 8, 2016 by

Preface. Also see related article Limits to Growth? 2016 United Nations report provides best evidence yet. This new article shows that climate change is already affecting harvests of the world’s top 10 crops that comprise 83% of our calories: barley, … Continue reading →

Posted in Limits To Growth, Peak Food | Tagged , | 2 Comments

USGS Groundwater Depletion study of Aquifer decline in the United States

Posted on May 21, 2016 by

Preface. The Ogallala and many other aquifers are depleting rapidly and growing more toxic from pesticides, feedlot waste, intruding salts, and other pollution.  Most won’t be recharged until after the next ice age. The Ogallala is one of Earth’s largest … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Government, Groundwater, Peak Food, Water | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Peak soil, peak phosphate, peak fertilizer means Peak Food

Posted on May 9, 2015 by

Amundson, R., et al. May 7, 2015. Soil and human security in the 21st century. Science 348. A group of leading soil scientists has summarized the precarious state of the world’s soil resources and the possible ramifications for human security … Continue reading →

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Over 21 essential resources have peaked including fish, milk, eggs, wheat, corn, rice, soy

Posted on January 16, 2015 by

Nature summary of this article: “The rates at which humans consume multiple resources such as food and wood peaked at roughly the same time, around 2006. This means that resources could be simultaneously depleted, so achieving sustainability might be more … Continue reading →

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The Nitrogen Bomb – fossil-fueled fertilizers keep 5.5 billion people alive

Posted on September 30, 2014 by

Fisher, D. 4 April 2001. The Nitrogen Bomb. By learning to draw fertilizer from a clear blue sky, chemists have fed the multitudes. They’ve also unleashed a fury as threatening as atomic energy. Discover magazine Vol. 22 No. 4 In … Continue reading →

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