Tag Archives: climate change

Oil shortages and climate change may lead to refugee camps even in the U.S. and Europe

Posted on July 20, 2017 by

[ Will refugee camps be the cities of tomorrow in the U.S. and other developed nations? As oil shortages disrupt supply chains; food shortages grow larger every year from climate change, topsoil erosion, and shortages of natural-gas fertilizer; and rising … Continue reading →

Posted in Refugee Camps | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Interdependencies of Energy Infrastructure, Water, and Climate Change GAO 2014

Posted on May 28, 2017 by

[ This report shows the interdependencies of Climate Change and the nation’s energy infrastructure, which is especially vulnerable because it’s so old and falling apart already. Another GAO report discusses the energy-water nexus.  Interdependent systems are more vulnerable – climate … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Energy, Energy Production, GAO Government Accountability Office, Interdependencies | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Interdependencies of Energy Infrastructure, Water, and Climate Change GAO 2014

U.S. GAO on mutually dependent water and energy

Posted on May 26, 2017 by

[ This post contains excerpts from a Government Accountability Office on the interdependency of water and energy.  Mutual dependencies make the essential systems that keep us alive more fragile, since disruption in one can cause shortages or failures in related … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy Production, GAO Government Accountability Office, Interdependencies | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on U.S. GAO on mutually dependent water and energy

Climate change effects on conflict, social unrest, health, mass migration, food, and national security

Posted on May 14, 2017 by

[ Since oil shortages from exponential decline rates of conventional oil will affect every aspect of civilization from farming to electricity to supply chains far harder and sooner than sea-level rise and other climate change problems, think “energy shortage” whenever … Continue reading →

Posted in Caused by Scarce Resources, Climate Change, Climate Change | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Climate change effects on conflict, social unrest, health, mass migration, food, and national security

Climate change effects on hydropower in California

Posted on May 11, 2017 by

[ The main impact is on hydropower, the largest source of renewable electric power in California, and besides natural gas, the only other way to balance wind and solar power, (unless utility-scale energy storage batteries become available).  But hydropower is often … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Hydropower | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Climate change effects on hydropower in California

Climate change is already collapsing nations

Posted on May 9, 2017 by

  Ahmed, Nafeez. 2017. Failing States, Collapsing Systems BioPhysical Triggers of Political Violence. Springer. “The last half century has seen a dramatic increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events in the form of droughts, wildfires, extreme rainfall, … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Collapsing | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Climate change is already collapsing nations

Coal power plants depend on railroads to deliver coal

Posted on February 18, 2017 by

[ The extract of a Senate hearing below is mostly spent on testimony by utilities bashing the railroads for not delivering enough coal due to a disaster in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming area, where coal dust infiltrated the stone … Continue reading →

Posted in Blackouts, Coal, Interdependencies, Railroads, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Coal power plants depend on railroads to deliver coal

Book review of Failing states, collapsing systems biophysical triggers of political violence by Nafeez Ahmed

Posted on January 31, 2017 by

[ In this post I summarize the sections of Nafeez’s book about the biophysical factors that bring nations down (i.e. climate change drought & water scarcity, declining revenues after peak oil, etc.) The Media tend to focus exclusively on economic … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Cascading Failure, Caused by Scarce Resources, Collapse of Civilizations, Collapsing, Drought, Drought, Exports decline to ZERO, Interdependencies, Limits To Growth, Middle East, Net Energy Cliff, Other Experts, Over Oil, Overpopulation, Peak Oil, Violence, War & Violence | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Millions of Americans have tropical diseases they’re unaware of

Posted on November 11, 2016 by

MacKenzie, D. December 14, 2013. America’s hidden epidemic. NewScientist. Increasing climate change and poverty are likely to increase the numbers of people with these diseases. An estimated 330,000 US citizens, and possibly as many as a million, carry the parasite … Continue reading →

Posted in Disease, Disease, Poverty | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Millions of Americans have tropical diseases they’re unaware of

Methane hydrate apocalypse? Maybe not…

Posted on September 20, 2016 by

 [ Articles skeptical of the clathrate gun theory: Mooney, C. 2013. How Much Should You Worry About an Arctic Methane Bomb? Mother Jones. While researching the Permian extinction, I came across all sorts of doubts about methane hydrates as a … Continue reading →

Posted in CO2 and Methane, Methane Hydrates | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Methane hydrate apocalypse? Maybe not…