Tag Archives: civilization

Book: John Perlin’s “A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization”

Posted on October 18, 2018 by

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 , , , , | 1 Comment

What would happen if trucks stopped running?

Posted on October 1, 2017 by

Preface. In “Why You Should Love Trucks” I showed that essential supply chains depend on trucks nearly completely. Because of little inventory and dependence on just-in-time deliveries, our civilization would almost immediately feel the repercussions of trucks stopping.  That sounds … Continue reading →

Posted in Cascading Failure, Dependence on Oil, Electric trucks impossible, Infrastructure, Oil Shocks, Transportation, Transportation, Trucks | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on What would happen if trucks stopped running?

Collapse of Mayan civilization from water shortages

Posted on June 14, 2017 by

Aigner, F. August 30, 2016. The demise of the Maya civilization: water shortage can destroy cultures. American Geophysical Union blogosphere. Something really drastic must have happened to the ancient Maya at the end of the Classic Period in the 9th … Continue reading →

Posted in Drought, Drought, Peak Food, Scientists Warnings to Humanity | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Collapse of Mayan civilization from water shortages

Why Civilizations Fail by William Ophuls

Posted on May 23, 2017 by

[ These are my notes from the book, not a proper book review, and since the notes are disjointed, you’d be wise to buy the book–  it’s excellent!  Plus then it’s on your shelf for future generations to understand what … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapse of Civilizations | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Jeff Masters: Nations that Collapsed because of Drought

Posted on May 8, 2017 by

[ Will the American Southwest be the next civilization to collapse?  Lynn Ingram, a professor at U.C. Berkeley discusses this in her 2013 book: The West without Water: What Past Floods, Droughts, and Other Climatic Clues Tell Us about Tomorrow. … Continue reading →

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Ward-Perkins “The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization”

Posted on January 10, 2017 by

[ This is a book review of Ward-Perkins “The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization“. What sparked my interest in reading several books on the decline of Rome was when James Howard Kunstler  (KunstlerCast 278) interviewed me about … Continue reading →

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Why the demise of civilization is inevitable

Posted on September 30, 2016 by

MacKenzie, D. April 2, 2008. Why the demise of civilisation may be inevitable. NewScientist. Every civilization in history has collapsed. Why should ours be any different? Homer-Dixon doubts we can stave off collapse completely. He points to what he calls … Continue reading →

Posted in 3) Fast Crash, Interdependencies | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Peter Turchin: violence and social unrest in the U.S. and Europe likely by 2020

Posted on May 18, 2016 by

[ Peter Turchin, an expert on the cycles of history and the rise and fall of civilizations, has used mathematical models of complex systems to predict political instability. Debora MacKenzie at NewScientist interviewed him about his upcoming book “Ultrasociety” in … Continue reading →

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Nature : Hydrocarbons and the evolution of human culture

Posted on March 3, 2014 by

Hydrocarbons and the evolution of human culture Charles Hall et al. 20 NOVEMBER 2003     NATURE. VOL 426 Most of the progress in human culture has required the exploitation of energy resources. About 100 years ago, the major source of energy … Continue reading →

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Decline and Fall of Civilizations links to articles about this

Posted on August 15, 2013 by

  The Histomap. Four thousand years of world history. Relative power of contemporary states, nations, and empires from slate.com Please follow and like us:

Posted in 1) Decline | Tagged , | Comments Off on Decline and Fall of Civilizations links to articles about this