#planetaryboundaries
So, yes, this is from MSN -- however, it drives in the point about a lot of stuff from the updated #LimitsToGrowth projections.
Slide 4 seems to echo the quotes from Cline's 1177BC regarding resource extraction (tin) and the #BronzeAgeCollapse.
"4. Resource extraction costs skyrocket as materials become exhausted.
"The era of cheap, easily extracted natural resources is ending as mining operations move to increasingly remote locations, tap lower-grade ores, and require more energy-intensive processes to extract the materials that support industrial civilization. This fundamental shift in resource economics creates inflationary pressures that compound across every sector of the economy, making previously profitable activities uneconomical and forcing societies to choose between maintaining current consumption levels and investing in future sustainability.
"Energy return on investment ratios for fossil fuel extraction have declined steadily over decades, requiring more energy input to extract each unit of usable fuel while alternative energy sources struggle to match the energy density and scalability of conventional #petroleum-based systems. The transition costs between energy systems create economic bottlenecks that can trigger the kind of systemic failures that characterize #SocietalCollapse, particularly when resource constraints coincide with other stresses like #ClimateChange, political instability, and demographic transitions."
[Thread] So, the book #LimitsToGrowth is back in the news after the projections were updated. I've been doing a lot of reading and thinking about this topic (the preface of the book 1177BC, The Year Civilization Collapsed being the impetus).
My conclusion is that only #Degrowth and implementation of a lot of #SolarPunkSunday ideas (repairing stuff, building community, rewilding) will help us adapt to the coming changes. That's why I started SPS -- to highlight events, ideas and to build connections.
Yes, I am known for "Doomposting," but like with most things, I try and find solutions as well. Yeah, all the #Fascist BS isn't helping -- in fact, it's a symptom of the desperation of the elites to hold onto their #Capitalistic, #Colonial, #hierarchical ways. And, well, we all know where that leads.
We may not be able to fix the climate or all the other things that are going wrong right away, but we can try to adapt, and make sure by doing so, we aren't making the problems worse for all the beings that live here on planet Earth.
I'll be posting some quotes in this thread -- some with commentary, some just by themselves. Do humans have all the answers? Not sure (I know I don't)... But sticking our collective heads in the sand is NOT an option!
3/5 CO2 pollution is a symptom of broader systemic crises—involving pollution, species loss, resource depletion. Modeling these complex feedbacks is key for realistic future scenarios. #Ecologie #Sustainability #PlanetaryBoundaries
Scientists Are Warning of A Brand-New Kind of #AcidRain
Story by Darren Orf
Key points:
- While acid rain caused by sulfur dioxide is an environmental threat of the past (at least, for now), a new kind of acid is proliferating in rain water—as well as groundwater, ice cores, and even human blood.
- #TrifluoroaceticAcid (#TFA) is a subclass of “#ForeverChemical” that’s been steadily increasing in concentrations around the world.
- With calls to consider this rise in TFA a planetary threat, some governments are starting ban chemicals linked to TFA—but the threat will require global cooperation.
"Acid rain may have a sequel, and like most sequels, it’s arguably worse.
"While the world’s first bout of acid rain (at least, in modern times) came from increased concentrations of sulfuric acid produced largely from coal plants, this new #anthropogenic source is possibly more pervasive, more persistent, and more sinister. Its name is Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), a kind of 'forever chemical' that, for decades, has been steadily increasing in #RainWater—but not just rain water.
"Countries around the world have found increasing concentrations in #groundwater, #ArcticIceCores, #wine, and even #HumanBlood. In fact, TFA is likely the most pervasive form of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl (#PFAS)—technically, a subclass known as ultrashort-chain perfluoroalkyl acid (#PFAA)—on Earth due in part to the fact that longer-chain PFAS degrade into TFA via #incinerators or #SewageTreatment plants. They’re also used in #refrigerants instead of #chlorofluorocarbons and #hydrochlorofluorocarbons, which were famously known to deplete the Earth’s #OzoneLayer.
"In October of 2024, a team of European environmental scientists raised the TFA alarm, stating that a rise in concentration could be considered a threat to '#PlanetaryBoundaries' — a system designed to make sure the planet remains #habitable for human life (which we are doing a real bang-up job at following).
" 'Since the 1990s, it has been suggested that hazard-related concerns of TFA and other short-chain PFAAs are much lower than those of PFAAs with longer perfluoroalkyl chains, which are more #bioaccumulative and generally more #toxic,' the authors wrote back in October. 'However, these early reports did not consider TFA’s ubiquitous accumulation in the environment, in particular its observed accumulation in water resources and #bioaccumulation in various plants, including crops.'
"One of the most dangerous things about PFAAs is what we don’t know about them. Unlike other PFAS (of which there are, sadly, thousands of different kinds), TFA is so small (a.k.a. ultrashort) that it’s water-soluble, meaning it likely passes through the human body pretty quickly. A new Nature article reports that some scientists find this evidence compelling enough to not even consider TFA a kind of PFAS, but a growing chorus of voices are raising concerns that increased concentrations of TFA in water and food sources could render TFA’s fast-moving nature a moot point.
"In fact, TFA’s water-solubility could be a long-term headache. If scientists and governments eventually decide that TFA does need to be removed from drinking water and other sources, current filtration technologies are not up to the task. In other words, ridding the world of TFA will not only be immensely difficult, it’ll also be incredibly expensive. Current regulations to eliminate certain forms of PFAS are already proving to be fiscally onerous.
"Thankfully, some governments are taking action. #Denmark, for example, banned 23 substances earlier this month known to contain PFAS that contribute to rising TFA concentrations. Meanwhile, the #US is lagging behind—the Environmental Protection Agency [#EPA] doesn’t even define TFA as a 'forever chemical,' much to the dismay of #environmentalist groups and to the merriment of many #industry leaders.
"Rising concentrations of TFA is the acid rain sequel no one wanted. But just like every terrible sequel ever made, it seems like we’re getting it anyway."
Mass mortality events
Dead marine sea life is washing up on the beaches
Mass bird deaths line the beaches
"There's a lot of concerning things going on with ocean ecology at the moment, so we are watching events like this with a bit of trepidation."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-22/avian-influenza-not-the-cause-of-coral-bay-bird-deaths/105546660
Beaches are littered with fish and marine carcasses
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jul/20/sas-toxic-algal-bloom-is-twice-the-size-of-the-act-has-killed-12000-animals-and-is-filling-even-the-experts-with-dread
“Ocean temperatures are heating up. It’s creating conditions that are conducive to algal blooms all around the world."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/15/deadly-algal-bloom-in-south-australias-coorong-an-environmental-eye-opener-ecologist-says
#FossilFuels #Climate #ClimateBreakdown #MarineHeatwave #AMOC #HABs #pollution #runoff #hypoxia #toxins #marine #biodiversity #FishKill #MassMortalityEvents #MME #Biodiversity #birds #DeadZones #ocean #ecology #Australia #PlanetaryBoundaries
Some of the complexity inherent in the sustainability transition can be removed by the classic tools of legal systems: making behavior XYZ illegal so that the majority of people refrain from doing it.
But legal tools are of marginal utility for many essential processes (energy, food systems etc.) that don't offer black or white choices.
The majority of activities have an impact profile that depends on intensity. Almost anything can cross #planetaryboundaries when practiced at scale.
2/
The program is up for #limits2025 - come join us June 26-27 for a planetary discussion on (rethinking) computing within planetary boundaries. Join from wherever you are or at one of the 14 hubs across the world. Please register (free).
https://computingwithinlimits.org/2025/
#ComputingWithinLimits #PlanetaryBoundaries
I was born at 315ppm.
As a species, we've increased atmospheric CO2 37% in my lifetime.
#ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #Anthropocene #PlanetaryBoundaries
https://fosstodon.org/@AkaSci/114645137116794928
AkaSci@fosstodon.org - For the first time, the seasonal peak of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere exceeded 430 parts per million (ppm) at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Observatory on Hawaii.
https://scripps.ucsd.edu/news/annual-carbon-dioxide-peak-passes-another-milestone
https://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/
OUT NOW!
Groundbreaking study in Nature co-authored by PIK Director Johan #Rockström. Projections of the #Climate & environment up to year 2100 for different policy pathways, coupling the #PlanetaryBoundaries framework to the Integrated Assessment Model IMAGE
https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/latest-news/how-the-world-can-develop-without-ruining-itself
The "Computing within Limits" (LIMITS'2025) deadline is extended to April 30th, 2025 AOE. Submit those papers and spread the word!
LIMITS'2025 welcomes scholarship from a wide range of perspectives that engages with computing and its pressing ecological and social issues and crises including planetary boundaries. CfP:
https://computingwithinlimits.org/2025/
my features published in #CurrentBiology this year, issue 4: #PFAS or #ForeverChemicals are a major #pollution problem
https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2025/02/forever-fluorinated.html #science #ProseAndPassion #environment #publicHealth #PersistentOrganicPollutants #chemistry #PlanetaryBoundaries
As #climate, so #biodiversity, and the other #PlanetaryBoundaries.
Heads down and a sprint for #Armageddon.
More than half of countries are ignoring biodiversity pledges – analysis | Biodiversity | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/24/countries-biodiversity-pledges-rome-cop16-aoe
ViaCampesina.org at the #GFFA2025 Global Forum for #Food and #Agriculture in Berlin
No #bioeconomy without the guardrails of #Agroecology, #FoodSovereignty, #PlanetaryBoundaries and the #RightToFood !
https://viacampesina.org/en/2025/01/la-via-campesina-at-the-17th-global-forum-for-food-and-agriculture-in-berlin
Excerpt from "What is #Solarpunk Everything you need to know about solarpunk, how it connects to #ClimateJustice and how to get involved with the movement" by Andrew Sage, published January 16, 2023:
How does solarpunk relate to #degrowth?
"The overlap between solarpunk and the degrowth movement can be found in the understanding that #capitalism’s built-in imperative to grow, expand, exploit, and profit endlessly cannot continue in the context of a #FinitePlanet.
"The degrowth movement is about rejecting the #GlobalCapitalist system’s pursuit of endless growth and advocating for a world based in care, solidarity, and autonomy in which our social and ecological well-being are at the forefront.
"Degrowth means #ClimateJustice and a good life for all within #PlanetaryBoundaries.
"Although aspects of solarpunk and degrowth may benefit from particular government policies, these movements cannot rely on the state. The state is structurally unsuited to ecological restoration, and can even potentially operate as an obstacle.
"The inherently violent and ecocidal character that has marked states from their earliest inception and up to their present incarnations does not lend itself to our liberation. Top-down approaches have consistently failed where local approaches to #rewilding have succeeded.
"The solarpunk movement emphasises local power, local organising, and local #autonomy because the world we envision cannot be imposed from above.
"A forest is more than its trees; ecological restoration requires intimate knowledge with the local nuances of the land, the water cycle, and the network of microorganisms, fungi, plants, and animals that sustain it.
"Our planet will be healed on the #grassroots level. We will need to circumvent the impositions of those in power through direct action to bring a solarpunk world into being."
https://shado-mag.com/all/what-is-solarpunk/
#AntiCapitalism #Degrowth #TheLimitsToGrowth #Sustainability #Ecosystem #NatureBasedLearning #NatureObservations #SharingEconomy
mulch in horticulture: microplastic rant
Wie steht es um unseren Planeten? Nun, ehrlich, nicht gut. Das ist das Ergebniss des aktuellen Sachstands-Berichts vom @PIK_climate & Co. zur Planetaren Gesundheit.
Mehr Infos (EN): https://www.planetaryhealthcheck.org
Podcast:
Johan Rockström: “Planetary Boundaries: Exceeding Earth’s Safe Limits” By Nate Hagens, originally published by The Great Simplification July 31, 2024
#ClimateCrisis
#Sustainability
#Resilience
#TippingPoints
#BioDiversity
#Ecology
#PlanetaryBoundaries
Thanks, but you don't need to lecture me about exponential growth...
And sorry if my intention to give the issue a less grim outlook wasn't of your taste.
Maybe better if I tell you that you don't have to worry "because with the currently likely scenarios, human population will likely crash at some not very distant point in the future.
famines, diseases, war, breakdown of healthcare, that stuff...
feel better now?
Anyway. You are right that the current growth of the human population would require a decrease of our average environmental impact per capita.
But what I say is just:
a) the overpopulation discourse usually averages over global populations, and does not take into account differences in impact by lifestyles. The world can't afford the rich people (of which the larges part is white).
b) the growth of consumption outpaced that that of population and is by far the bigger problem
c) there is a lot of margin to live more sustainably, even in low-income countries. So, I don't want to deny that too many poor people can have negative impacts on the environment, especially in industrialized capitalist societies. But as I said before: fight for education and against patriarchy, and this will yield the best results.
d) I prefer a lot to destroy large parts of the industry, cars, military and other shit with only marginal benefit (yes, there are always exceptions, e.g., disabled people deserve access to mobility). But when we talk about population, we are talking about human beings. And in the past this discussion never had good results.
So, again: if you want to talk about what you denominate "overpopulation", I request you thread your words very, very carefully, so that the discussion can't derive into racist and ableist thoughts. This is what I ask you.
How do we offer secure, safe, dry, affordable homes to all the people who want them while not breaching our
#planetaryboundaries more than we have already?