Guy McPherson: We’re Done

By Guy McPherson22 June 2012 British economist John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) is well known for his views on monetary policy. The printing-press approach he forwarded is widely used today, especially as the world-wide Ponzi scheme nears its end. My favorite line from Keynes: “In the long run, we’re all dead.” As I pointed out in […]

China warns decline of its rare earth reserves is ‘accelerating’

20 June 2012 (BBC) – China has warned that the decline in its rare earth reserves in major mining areas is “accelerating”, as most of the original resources are depleted. In a policy paper, China’s cabinet blamed excessive exploitation and illegal mining for the decline. China accounts for more than 90% of the world’s rare […]

Mongolia’s dilemma: ‘I don’t care about the gold or the copper, I’m just afraid there won’t be water’

By Frank Langfitt22 May 2012 Mongolia, the land of Genghis Khan and nomadic herders, is in the midst of a remarkable transition. Rich in coal, gold, and copper, this country of fewer than 3 million people in Central Asia is riding a mineral boom that is expected to more than double its GDP within a […]

Environment getting worse, not better, 20 years after the Rio Earth summit

[Not a surprise to Desdemona readers.] By Erin Hale, www.guardian.co.uk15 May 2012 Twenty years on from the Rio Earth summit, the environment of the planet is getting worse not better, according to a report from WWF. Swelling population, mass migration to cities, increasing energy use and soaring carbon dioxide emissions mean humanity is putting a […]

Review: The Crash Course: The Unsustainable Future Of Our Economy, Energy, and Environment

By John Atcheson28 Apr 2012 The first thing to say about The Crash Course is that it is an impressive work of scholarship. It is reminiscent of Guns, Germs and Steel in terms of the scope and breadth of knowledge brought to bear by the author in support of his thesis – which is basically […]

Australians’ concern about the environment plummets

[cf. U.S. worry about water, air pollution at historic lows – Concern about global warming dead last] 30 April 2012By Ben Cubby CONCERN for the environment has dwindled into a ”middling” issue that many people do not have strong feelings about, a major study into Australian attitudes towards society, politics and the economy has found. […]

Graph of the Day: Growth in World Oil Supplies, 1983-2011

By Gail the Actuary12 April 2012 The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently released full-year 2011 world oil production data. In this post, I would like show some graphs of recent data, and provide some views as to where this leads with respect to future production. The fitted line in Figure 1 suggests a “normal” […]

MIT researchers predict ‘global economic collapse’ by 2030 – ‘We are not on a sustainable trajectory’

By Eric Pfeiffer, The Sideshow4 April 2012 A new study from researchers at Jay W. Forrester’s institute at MIT says that the world could suffer from “global economic collapse” and “precipitous population decline” if people continue to consume the world’s resources at the current pace. [Here’s a pdf of Dr. Turner’s 2008 paper: “A comparison […]

Scientists warn phosphorus supplies could run out, leading to famine and war

By Cory Nealon, cnealon@dailypress.com  24 March 2012 AURORA, N.C. – The sun was about to set when Robert L. Shirley drove his beige pickup onto the Pamlico River ferry. He was joined by fellow Potash Corp. employees who had just finished the day shift mining what scientists say could be the “gravest natural resource shortage […]

The world in 2050: Deutsche Post DHL releases a study on the future

Berlin/Bonn, 27 February 2012 (DHL) – With its release of the study of the future, Delivering Tomorrow: Logistics 2050, Deutsche Post DHL is taking a far-reaching look into the future of trade, business and society. The study examines five different scenarios of life in the year 2050. These five visions of the future are based […]

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