Category Archives: Polycrisis

Google AI: A polycrisis is a single situation where multiple, distinct global crises occur simultaneously and interact in ways that amplify each other, making the overall damage significantly worse than the sum of its individual parts. Instead of dealing with isolated, sequential emergencies, a polycrisis features intersecting networks of stress across economic, geopolitical, ecological, and technological systems.
Core Characteristics
Causal Entanglement: A crisis in one system (e.g., a geopolitical conflict) directly triggers or worsens a crisis in another system (e.g., energy prices and global food supply chains).
Feedback Loops: The compounding effects bounce back and forth between systems, creating highly volatile and unpredictable domino effects.
Systemic Overwhelm: Because the crises are deeply linked, they cannot be successfully resolved one at a time, frequently paralyzing traditional governance and risk-management strategies

Lessons From the Little Ice Age

Posted on March 23, 2014 by

Lessons From the Little Ice Age Geoffrey Parker, March 22, 2014, New York Times Climatologists call it the Little Ice Age; historians, the General Crisis. During the 17th century, longer winters and cooler summers disrupted growing seasons and destroyed harvests … Continue reading →

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Without a Trace ‘The Sixth Extinction,’ by Elizabeth Kolbert

Posted on March 21, 2014 by

Review by Al Gore Feb 10, 2014. New York Times. Over the past decade, Elizabeth Kolbert has established herself as one of our very best science writers. She has developed a distinctive and eloquent voice of conscience on issues arising … Continue reading →

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What Happens When Weed Killers Stop Killing?

Posted on March 21, 2014 by

Robert F. Service. September 20, 2013. What Happens When Weed Killers Stop Killing?  Science (341):1329 “U.S. farmers are heading for a crisis,” says Stephen Powles of the University of Western Australia, Crawley. Powles is an expert on herbicide resistance, a … Continue reading →

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Energy production requires a LOT of water

Posted on March 21, 2014 by

Energy and water – the real blue-chips August 20, 2011 by Nate Hagens and Kenneth Mulder Some excerpts from this article: The 2 most important natural resources are water and energy. In most cases, each is required to procure the … Continue reading →

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Inside North Korea’s environmental collapse

Posted on March 15, 2014 by

The reddish hue of this soil in North Korea comes from lack of organic matter, vital for farming. Related Posts: North Korea collapse posts How different nations have coped with oil shortages Dmitry Orlov: How Russians survived the collapse of … Continue reading →

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Cost of Invasive Species in the United States

Posted on March 14, 2014 by

[ My note: It’s been 15 years since this paper was written, yet it is so thorough and well-written that it stands up well today and still cited by thousands of other papers as the best estimate of what invasive … Continue reading →

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Garrett Hardin: POPULATION: BIGGER IS LESS FREE

Posted on March 14, 2014 by

Recently the BIB school of population pundits— “Bigger is Better” — has become noisier. That bigger is not always better is known to everyone with eyes and a memory. An expanding population erodes individual freedom. The freedom  people had to … Continue reading →

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David Pimentel: Last orders please … room is running out at the global dinner table

Posted on March 14, 2014 by

Last orders please … room is running out at the global dinner table by Dr David Pimentel, professor of ecology and agricultural science at Cornell University, New York, Sydney Morning Herald, 12/07/2002, p 11, edited transcript of two speeches given … Continue reading →

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Nuclear Winter in China: Chinese Smog will lower food supplies

Posted on February 27, 2014 by

Scientists liken Chinese smog to ‘nuclear winter’ February 27, 2014.  by Kim Kyung-Hoon. Reuters. Air pollution in parts of China is now so extreme it could lead to conditions similar to a “nuclear winter,” scientists say. The smog that covers … Continue reading →

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Science: A Drier Future. Global Warming is likely to lead to overall drying of land surfaces.

Posted on February 24, 2014 by

A Drier Future. Global Warming is likely to lead to overall drying of land surfaces. Sherwood, S & Fu, Q. Science. 14 Feb 2014. Vol 343. pp 737-739 Global temperature increases affect the water cycle over land, but the nature … Continue reading →

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