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

Oil and Gas infrastructure are falling apart

Posted on July 11, 2013 by

Beneath Cities, a Decaying Tangle of Gas Pipes March 23, 2014. Patrick McGeehan et al. New York Times It is a danger hidden beneath the streets of New York City, unseen and rarely noticed: 6,302 miles of pipes transporting natural … Continue reading →

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Asian medicine a major cause of biodiversity loss

Posted on July 8, 2013 by

I haven’t noticed any shortage of people in China – what a tragedy the men there feel like they need to eat endangered animal penises, and for the government not to stop it. 6 Mar 2003. S. Malik et al. … Continue reading →

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Only you can prevent wildfires: write FEMA by June 17, 2013

Posted on May 17, 2013 by

If you’d like to prevent another wildfire, I encourage you to write FEMA or go to the meeting tomorrow, May 18th at 10 am – see http://claremontcanyon.org/ for details on where to send a letter and meeting place. A great … Continue reading →

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Why we might not go extinct from fossil fuel emissions

Posted on May 3, 2013 by

Peak Fossils means Peak Emissions and the lowest to medium IPCC projections at worst This is an overview, other posts in this category contain peer-reviewed papers that show why this is true.  The heart of the problem is that the … Continue reading →

Posted in But not from climate change: Peak Fossil Fuels | 1 Comment

Oil Production Fueled Population Growth and Food Production

Posted on March 15, 2013 by

As oil exponentially declines, so will population and food. 1994. Elaine M. Murphy. World Population: Toward the Next Century, © 1994 by the Population Reference Bureau, 1875 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 520, Washington, DC, 20009. Property of Population Reference Bureau, … Continue reading →

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Humanity will need 27 planet Earths by 2050, a new study estimates.

Posted on March 13, 2013 by

Stephen Leahy. 3 Aug 2011.  Data Shows All of Earth’s Systems in Rapid Decline. Inter Press Service. Overpopulation is causing huge losses in biodiversity, and ‘protected areas’ such as national parks aren’t working. UXBRIDGE, Canada, Jul 29 (IPS) – Protecting … Continue reading →

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William Catton, Chapter 2 of Overshoot: The Tragic Story of Human Success

Posted on March 13, 2013 by

William Catton. 1980. Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change. University of Illinois Press. Origins of Man’s Future We are already living on an overloaded world. Our future will be a product of that fact; that fact is a product … Continue reading →

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Rapid Population Growth in California: A Threat to Land and Food Production

Posted on March 13, 2013 by

David & Marcia Pimentel. June 2, 2008. Rapid Population Growth in California: A Threat to Land and Food Production. Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Are Californians —who are now coping with overcrowded cities, jammed highways, and a … Continue reading →

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Nothing is So Powerful As an Exponential Whose Time Has Come

Posted on March 13, 2013 by

Donella Meadows on: Nothing is So Powerful As an Exponential Whose Time Has Come The reason environmentalists are often so gloomy is that they know what the word “exponential” means. “A lack of appreciation for what exponential increase really means … Continue reading →

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Nering on the Mirage of a Growing Fuel Supply

Posted on March 13, 2013 by

4 June 2001. Evar D. Nering. The Mirage of a Growing Fuel Supply. New York Times. In my classes, I describe the following hypothetical situation: We have a 100-year supply of oil if it were consumed at its current rate. … Continue reading →

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