Tag Archives: collapse

Even Pencils will be hard to make

Posted on February 9, 2021 by

Preface. Most of us are unaware of how complex our society is, how things are made, how food is grown, how stuff is delivered, and the people, energy, transportation, and kinds and sources of materials in every day objects.  This … Continue reading →

Posted in EROEI Energy Returned on Energy Invested, Localization, Supply Chains | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Fragility of Microchips

Posted on February 6, 2021 by

Preface. This is an introduction to how microchips are made to give you an idea of how difficult and amazing they are.  This is a very high-level overview gathered mostly from the textbooks of Quirk (2001) and Van Zant (2004). … Continue reading →

Posted in 2) Collapse, An Index of Best Energyskeptic Posts, Infrastructure & Fast Crash, Interdependencies, Localization, Manufacturing & Industrial Heat, Microchips and computers, Supply Chains | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Civilization will collapse in 20-40 years from deforestation

Posted on December 26, 2020 by

Preface.  At current rates of deforestation, forests will be gone in 100-200 years. Long before that, in 20-40 years, the effects will be felt, with a 90% chance of civilization collapse likely.  Below “deforestation in the news” are excerpts from an … Continue reading →

Posted in Deforestation, Limits To Growth | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

Escape collapse on a DIY floating island

Posted on December 20, 2020 by

Preface. Build your own sustainable floating compound. At Freedom Cove, food preparation takes up a large part of the day. Without a refrigerator or freezer, the couple catch fish and grow almost all the food they consume in a large … Continue reading →

Posted in Where to Be or Not to Be | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Book Review: The Fall of the Roman Empire: A new history of Rome and the barbarians

Posted on November 26, 2020 by

Preface.  Most historians see the fall of the Roman Empire as due to the invasion of barbarians from the North, partly pushed towards Italy by the brutal Huns.  These lands had never been conquered by Roman armies because they were … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapse of Civilizations, Roman Empire | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Book Review of “Against the Grain. A Deep History of the Earliest States”

Posted on September 9, 2020 by

Preface.  Energyskeptic.com is ultimately about the rise and fall of civilizations, although I didn’t know that when I first started writing this as an energy and resource blog.  Our civilization too will fail as fossil fuels decline, and then we’re … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapse of Civilizations, Collapsed & collapsing nations, Human Nature, Life Before Oil, Slavery | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Ugo Bardi: Collapse. Where can we find a safe refuge?

Posted on June 21, 2020 by

Preface. This is from the excellent blog Cassandralegacy.blogspot.com of Ugo Bardi’s posted here. I agree that a small town or city might be best, but only if near agriculture, most towns in the desert SouthWest of the U.S. are not … Continue reading →

Posted in Ugo Bardi, Where to Be or Not to Be | Tagged , | 2 Comments

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

Posted on May 28, 2020 by

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

How a pandemic or bioweapon could take civilization down

Posted on April 23, 2020 by

Preface.  I just listened to a 3.5 hour podcast on pandemics and bioweapons with the best up-to-date coverage I know of, and more interesting to listen to than reading a book or article.  Just one of many scary problems: synthetic … Continue reading →

Posted in 3) Fast Crash, Biowarfare, Interdependencies, Pandemic Fast Crash | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Fall of Indus valley & Akkadian civilizations from climate change

Posted on April 20, 2020 by

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 , | Comments Off on Fall of Indus valley & Akkadian civilizations from climate change