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

PNAS: Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change: Anticipating Surprises

Posted on February 22, 2014 by

Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change: Anticipating Surprises. 2013. sponsored by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Intelligence community. This was the best summary of the 223 page National Academy of Sciences publication I could … Continue reading →

Posted in CO2 and Methane | 1 Comment

Set the planet on fire: Burn underground coal to gasify it. Worse than Fracking.

Posted on February 13, 2014 by

Fire in the hole: After fracking comes coal. 13 February 2014 by Fred Pearce. NewScientist. Setting fire to coal underground could answer our energy prayers, or start an environmental disaster on a bigger scale than ever before. Without a way to … Continue reading →

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We’ve taken over too much of the planet for pasture and crops

Posted on February 6, 2014 by

In the article “Primeval planet: What if humans had never existed?” by Christopher Kemp in NewScientist, these charts of increasing intensity of pasture and crop land from 5000 BC (18,000,000 population) until 2000 (6,150,000,000 people) show that humans are laying … Continue reading →

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Philip Cafaro on immigration and population

Posted on December 27, 2013 by

Here are some of the bullet points of what to do from “Arguments for Reducing Immigration” from Life on the Brink. Cut legal immigration from 1 million to 200,000 per year Reduce illegal immigration by strictly enforcing sactions against employers … Continue reading →

Posted in Overpopulation, Population | 5 Comments

The Passengers are killing the crew of Spaceship Earth

Posted on December 15, 2013 by

What follows was written by Captain Paul Watson, who helped found Greenpeace in 1972 and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in1977.  His books include: Sea Shepherd: My fight for Whales and Seals, Cry Wolf, Ocean Warrior, Earth Force, and Seal … Continue reading →

Posted in Overpopulation, Population | Tagged | 1 Comment

Dave Foreman: More Immigration = More Americans = Less Wilderness

Posted on December 5, 2013 by

Dave Foreman. 2013. More Immigration = More Americans = Less Wilderness. Earth island Journal. The Big Thing facing Earth today – dwarfing all else – is the mass extinction of animals and plants unprecedented in size and scope for 65 … Continue reading →

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Pesticides & Parkinson’s in California’s Central Valley

Posted on November 30, 2013 by

Horowitz, J. 2012. Parkinson’s Alley.  Recent studies have found statistical links between pesticide use and an outbreak of Parkinson’s disease in California farm towns. Researchers even know which chemicals are the likely culprits. What’s the government doing about it? Not … Continue reading →

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New York Times review of “Countdown” by Alan Weisman

Posted on November 30, 2013 by

A book review by Nathaniel Rich, October 11, 2013, New York Times of: COUNTDOWN. Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth? By Alan Weisman If we wanted to bring about the extinction of the human race as quickly … Continue reading →

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Algal blooms more toxic due to climate change and crop fertilizer runoff

Posted on November 30, 2013 by

Paerl, H.W. et al. October 25, 2013. Blooms Bite the Hand That Feeds Them. Science Vol. 342 no. 6157 pp. 433-434  Eutrophication from climate change, dams, higher carbon dioxide concentrations, drought, and nutrients from farm and urban runoff is increasing … Continue reading →

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Hazardous Waste Overview

Posted on October 31, 2013 by

To give you an idea of how much waste is generated, here are some 10+ year old stats from the Department of energy Table AF-2. WASTE FUN FACTS 1 ounce   = NOx emissions generated from 3.6 gallons of gasoline 3 … Continue reading →

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