Category Archives: BioInvasion

Heat effects on habitability, biodiversity, and invasive species

Posted on February 22, 2022 by energyskeptic

Preface. Due to limits of human heat tolerance, much of Earth’s surface may not be habitable by 2300 if we continue to emit greenhouse gases at the current rate. But we can’t continue at the current rate. Peak oil production … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity Loss, BioInvasion, Deforestation, Fisheries, Heat, Wildfire | Tagged bark beetle, climate change, deforestation, fisheries, global warming, heat, uninhabitable | Comments Off

Jellyfish in the news

Posted on February 16, 2022 by energyskeptic

Preface. As we overfish, eutrophy and acidify the ocean with fertilizer and pesticides we risk a tipping point where jellyfish dominate the oceans and fish are scarce. Related: Why and how Jellyfish are taking over the world Alice Friedemann www.energyskeptic.com … Continue reading →

Posted in BioInvasion, Extinction, Jellyfish | Tagged Bioinvasion, jellyfish, slime | Comments Off

Insect & other BioInvasions

Posted on January 19, 2022 by energyskeptic

Preface. Invasive insects that have no predators in the U.S. can only be somewhat reduced with oil-based products that will grow scarcer as petroleum declines. Pesticides are made out of oil and damage the environment for many generations to come. … Continue reading →

Posted in 2) Collapse, BioInvasion | Tagged ant, ash borer, beetle, Bioinvasion, deforestation, fire ant, mosquitoes, mountain pine beetle, rats, small hive beetle | Comments Off

Livestock threatened by toxic invasive species on rangeland

Posted on January 4, 2021 by energyskeptic

Preface. Will cattle, sheep,goats, and horses have to be raised on feed lots in the future to prevent range land poisoning from invasive plants? Each year poisonous plants adversely affect 3-5% of the cattle, sheep, and horses that graze western … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity Loss, BioInvasion, Farming & Ranching, Peak Food | Tagged biodiversity loss, Bioinvasion, invasive species, plants | 4 Comments

Climate Change dominates news coverage at expense of other existential planetary boundaries

Posted on November 17, 2020 by energyskeptic

Preface. In the half dozen science magazines and newspapers I get, almost the only environmental stories are about climate change. Yet there are 8 other ecological boundaries (Rockström 2009) we must not cross (shown in bold with an asterisk below) … Continue reading →

Posted in Acidification, Biodiversity Loss, BioInvasion, Climate Change, Critical Thinking, Peak Oil, Planetary Boundaries | Tagged aquifer depletion, biodiversity loss, Bioinvasion, climate change, deforestation, fishery decline, peak oil, soil erosion | 17 Comments

Climate change impacts on agriculture

Posted on July 6, 2020 by energyskeptic

Preface. There are three articles below on this topic. Plus these articles in the news: Nakagawa T et al (2021) The spatio-temporal structure of the Lateglacial to early Holocene transition reconstructed from the pollen record of Lake Suigetsu and its … Continue reading →

Posted in BioInvasion, Drought & Collapse, Extreme Weather, Food production, Heat, Peak Topsoil, Soil, Water, Where to Be or Not to Be | Tagged climage change, disease, erosion, food production, pests, soil, water, weeds | Comments Off

Invasion of feral hogs yet another hazard for the future

Posted on April 8, 2020 by energyskeptic

Preface. The Decline category used to be Death By A Thousand Cuts. Feral hogs are yet another cut for anyone who survives peak oil. Not only will climate change be drastically cutting back food production, feral hogs will too, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity Loss, BioInvasion, Disease, Farming & Ranching | Tagged agriculture, Bioinvasion, disease, feral pigs, wild hogs | 3 Comments

Invasive weeds threaten crops

Posted on March 23, 2020 by energyskeptic

Preface. Invasive weeds will make growing food harder when fossils are gone, since pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides are made with petroleum as a feedstock. Alice Friedemann www.energyskeptic.com author of “Life After Fossil Fuels: A Reality Check on Alternative Energy”, … Continue reading →

Posted in 2) Collapse, BioInvasion | Tagged aquatic, cogongrass, plant bioinvasion | 2 Comments

When wood is again our main energy source, how long will it last?

Posted on January 23, 2020 by energyskeptic

Preface. Just when civilization is decades from returning to wood as the main energy source (due to peak oil in 2018), climate change is allowing invasive beetles to survive winters and kill trees, with drought and wildfires increasing the damage. … Continue reading →

Posted in BioInvasion, Drought & Collapse, Nate Hagens, Where to Be or Not to Be, Wildfire, Wood | Tagged biomass, climate change, fuel, heat, wildfire, wood | Comments Off

The global threat of invasive species to marine biodiversity

Posted on May 18, 2019 by energyskeptic

Preface. Although I consider peak oil to be the largest threat, since all other resources and economic activities depend on it, we’re faced with a convergence of hundreds of other problems enabled by fossil fuels, which caused the the huge … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity Loss, BioInvasion | Tagged biodiversity, invasive species | 2 Comments