Category Archives: Climate Change

Methane apocalypse? Not likely.

Posted on July 24, 2020 by energyskeptic

Preface. The four articles below explain why methane from permafrost or hydrates are not likely to erupt abruptly and send Earth into a hothouse hell. In addition, here are some posts debunking Guy McPherson who believes the world will end … Continue reading →

Posted in CO2 and Methane, Methane Hydrates | Tagged clathrate gun, climate change, debunk, methane, methane burp, methane hydrate, permean extinction | 4 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

15 Nations that Collapsed because of Drought: will we be the 16th?

Posted on May 28, 2020 by energyskeptic

Preface. Another repercussion of drought may be the Muslim religion as Fleitmann (2022) proposes below. This post began with 10 civilizations that collapsed due to drought (below), and I’ve added 5 more. Will the American South West be #16? Lynn … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapsed & collapsing nations, Drought & Collapse | Tagged Akkadia, Anasazi, Arabia, civilization, collapse, drought, Harrapan, Himyar, Khmer Empire, Maya, Ming Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, Tiwanaku Empire | 1 Comment

World’s Oceans are losing Oxygen rapidly

Posted on May 25, 2020 by energyskeptic

Preface. Yikes, add deoxygenization to your list of worries. Oxygen levels in the world’s oceans declined by roughly 2% from 1960 and 2010. The decline was largely due to climate change, though other human activities such as nutrient runoff from … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Extinction, Mass Extinction, Planetary Boundaries | Tagged climate change, deoxygenation, phytoplankton | 7 Comments

Fall of Indus valley & Akkadian civilizations from climate change

Posted on April 20, 2020 by energyskeptic

Preface. Any civilization or region that survives energy decline must then survive climate change for many centuries. As far as the wind systems that collapsed the Akkadian empire, it’s already happening: “Greenhouse gases are increasingly disrupting the jet stream, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Collapsed & collapsing nations | Tagged climate change, collapse | Comments Off

A 1-year blackout could kill 90% of Americans

Posted on April 11, 2020 by energyskeptic

Preface. What follows is the 30-page testimony of Dr. Pry at a 2015 U.S. House of Representatives session that I’ve summarized. One of the ways that an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) could be generated is by a solar flare. During the … Continue reading →

Posted in Blackouts, Congressional Record U.S., Electricity Infrastructure, EMP Electromagnetic Pulse, Extreme Weather, Nuclear Power Collapse, Nuclear War, U.S. Congress Energy Policy, U.S. Congress Infrastructure | Tagged cyber attack, electromagnetic pulse, EMP, nuclear, spent fuel pool, war | 4 Comments

William Rees: Memo from a Climate Crisis Realist: The Choice before Us

Posted on February 4, 2020 by energyskeptic

Preface. I’m going to put Rees’ conclusion of 11 things to do first (rather than the Green New Deal, which can’t possibly work), followed by his arguments for why this needs to be done (if you haven’t read part 1 … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Expert Advice, Experts | Tagged climate change, degrowth, energy, green new deal | 5 Comments

Northeast apple production suffering from Climate Change

Posted on January 26, 2020 by energyskeptic

Preface. Although this article is only about one crop in one area, it portends a darker future for food production in the future, with each region having their own issues (i.e. drought in California). It’s only a matter of time … Continue reading →

Posted in Farming & Ranching, Food production | Tagged agriculture, apples, climate change, food | Comments Off

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

Carbon capture could require 25% of all global energy

Posted on December 8, 2019 by energyskeptic

Preface. This is clearly a pipedream. Surely the authors know this, since they say that the energy needed to run direct air capture machines in 2100 is up to 300 exajoules each year. That’s more than half of global energy … Continue reading →

Posted in CO2 and Methane, Far Out | Tagged carbon sequestration, DACCS | 2 Comments