Author Archives: energyskeptic

Drought and the Food Supply

Posted on July 26, 2012 by

Lesk, C. January 7, 2016. Influence of extreme weather disasters on global crop production. Nature.   Drought and extreme heat events slashed cereal harvests in recent decades by 9% to 10% on average in affected countries with the greatest impact … Continue reading →

Posted in Drought | Comments Off on Drought and the Food Supply

Natural Gas — How Much is Left in the USA?

Posted on July 21, 2012 by

Although there’s been a fracking boom for shale gas in America, many are skeptical.   We need local gas since it’s very expensive to import from overseas sources like Qatar, and we’re competing with other nations for delivery, which drives the … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Liebig's Law, Natural Gas | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Natural Gas — How Much is Left in the USA?

Liebig’s Law Of the Minimum

Posted on July 21, 2012 by

Liebig’s Law of the Minimum originally applied to plants, which require 21 nutrients — if any of them are missing the plant won’t grow to it’s full potential, or not be able to grow at all.  It’s similar to the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1) Decline, Liebig's Law | Comments Off on Liebig’s Law Of the Minimum

History of Drought in America since 1899 – Worst ever now

Posted on July 21, 2012 by

The dust bowls of the 1950s were worse than the famous dust bowls of the Great Depression.  The conditions for a new dust bowl are happening again, only this time we’ve cut down the trees so that 27 ton tractors … Continue reading →

Posted in 1) Decline, Drought | Comments Off on History of Drought in America since 1899 – Worst ever now

Extinction has Nearly Happened Before: The Human Bottleneck

Posted on July 21, 2012 by

Sam Kean. 19 Jul 2012.  Blogging the Human Genome Entry 10: The chromosomal evidence that mankind nearly went extinct.  Slate.com Take your pick for the cause of our near-extinction—ice ages, plagues, Indonesian gigavolcanoes. But humans have far less genetic diversity … Continue reading →

Posted in Extinction Experts | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Extinction has Nearly Happened Before: The Human Bottleneck

Methane’s potential for another major extinction event

Posted on July 17, 2012 by

June 22, 2016. As Alaska warms, methane emissions appear stable, study finds. phys.org. Excerpts: One reason no increase has been seen may be that “Bacteria that produce methane and bacteria that consume methane will both become more active as temperatures … Continue reading →

Posted in Extinction, Runaway Greenhouse | Comments Off on Methane’s potential for another major extinction event

Hirsch predicts Oil Shocks by 2017, panic, and stock market crash

Posted on July 13, 2012 by

I believe oil shocks could lead to a FAST CRASH Robert L. Hirsch was the author of the first US government report on peak oil in 2005, which recommended taking action to mitigate Peak Oil at least 20 years before … Continue reading →

Posted in By People, Energy Books, Oil Shocks, Peak Resources, Robert Hirsch | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Hirsch predicts Oil Shocks by 2017, panic, and stock market crash

Don’t worry, be happy, there’s plenty of oil, natural gas, & coal left

Posted on July 9, 2012 by

These posts and links rebut the studies of cornucopians like Magueri and Daniel Yergin at CERA, who say there’s lots of oil left. Richard Kerr. 10 Aug 2012. Are World Oil’s Prospects Not Declining All That Fast? Science vol 337 … Continue reading →

Posted in How Much Left | Comments Off on Don’t worry, be happy, there’s plenty of oil, natural gas, & coal left

Tad Patzek: Our complex civilization will cease to exist 20-30 years from now

Posted on July 9, 2012 by

Tad Patzek. 9 July 2012. What to do? Without the high energy density, fungible fuels flowing at high rates through our complex civilization, our society will cease to exist within 20-30 years from today. A Public Agenda survey in 2009 … Continue reading →

Posted in Scientists, Tad Patzek | Comments Off on Tad Patzek: Our complex civilization will cease to exist 20-30 years from now

Tad Patzek: Face Reality & Educate Yourself

Posted on July 9, 2012 by

9 July 2012.  What to do?  ASPO-USA. When I share with people my assessments of where the Earthlings are stumbling rather blindly, my listeners often say: “Oh, you are such a pessimist! What would you do differently?” My short answer … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice | Comments Off on Tad Patzek: Face Reality & Educate Yourself