Peak Everything: Eight Things We Are Running Out Of And Why Getty ImagesWhy is everything running out at the same time? We did a series on Planet Green where we looked at why those basic things that we take for granted, like water, food and fuel are getting expensive and scarce, all at once.Peak Corn: Blame Earl Butz. Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford's Secretary of Agriculture brought in the Farm Bill that dramatically increased the amount of corn produced in America. He encouraged farmers to "get big or get out," and to plant crops like corn "from fence row to fence row." Further billions in subsidies to farmers encouraged production, and soon America was awash in cheap grain, and with it cheap meat. Food costs as a portion of the American diet dropped to the lowest level in history; we became corn. Peak Oil In 1956, American geophysicist M. Peak Dirt Really, Peak Dirt- the world is losing soil 10 to 20 times faster than it is replenishing it. Peak Gas The headline in our local paper today: Natural gas bills to soar by 20 per cent. Peak Water
Mathematics and Statistics Explore. Watch, listen, debate & discover with our experts Free OpenLearn courses. OU course extracts and exclusive free courses Become an OU student. Change your life with a qualification Earth is on brink of a sixth mass extinction, scientists say, and it’s humans’ fault A tree in a deforested area of the Amazon in 2014. Biologists say that deforestation and other human activity has contributed to the extinction of hundreds of species in the past 114 years. (Raphael Alves/AFP via Getty Images) A vast chunk of space rock crashes into the Yucatan Peninsula, darkening the sky with debris and condemning three-quarters of Earth’s species to extinction. Five times in the past, the Earth has been struck by these kinds of cataclysmic events, ones so severe and swift (in geological terms) they obliterated most kinds of living things before they ever had a chance to adapt. Now, scientists say, the Earth is on the brink of a sixth such “mass extinction event.” “We are now moving into another one of these events that could easily, easily ruin the lives of everybody on the planet,” Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich said in a video created by the school. [Release of encyclical reveals pope’s deep dive into climate science]
Petrodollar Seit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg wird der Handel mit Erdöl hauptsächlich in US-Dollar abgerechnet. Das hierfür verwendete Geld wird auch als Petrodollar bezeichnet. Folgen der Dollarfakturierung[Bearbeiten] Aus der Dollarfakturierung des Erdöls lassen sich drei Bedeutungen ableiten: Erstens hat die große und konstante Abhängigkeit der Weltwirtschaft vom Rohöl einerseits zur Folge, dass der Wechselkurs jedes Landes gegenüber dem US-Dollar eine entscheidende ökonomische Größe ist - schließlich beeinflusst er in großem Maß die Rohstoffpreise eines Landes. Zweitens verursacht die fast ausschließliche Dollarfakturierung andererseits bilanztechnisch Verbindlichkeiten der US-Zentralbank Federal Reserve gegenüber den erdölexportierenden Ländern in enormem Umfang, da diesen Ländern durch den Ölexport große Dollarbestände zufließen. Drittens fließen der US-Zentralbank in Höhe der Ölkaufpreise Devisen der ölkaufenden Nationen zu. Petrodollars und die Seigniorage-Einnahmen der USA[Bearbeiten] Film[Bearbeiten]
The Skeptics Society & Skeptic magazine Earth's Worst Mass Murderers: Oxygen, Volcanoes ... and Humans? For everything on Earth, there has been a season: A time for continents to meet, a time for them to break apart, a time for warming and a time for cooling, a time for life to thrive and species to multiply … and a time for them to get obliterated by global catastrophes. Scientists generally recognize five major extinction events when, in very short order (on a geological timescale, anyway), much of life on Earth was utterly stomped into the fossil record. Here’s a look at the five major extinction events of epochs past, and a glimpse at the sixth one we might be causing right now. Sources: “Late Devonian Mass Extinction,” Natural History Museum “The Five Worst Mass Extinctions,” Endangered Species International “Big Five mass extinction events,” BBC “End-Triassic extinction,” Encyclopedia Britannica “Table 1: The ‘Big Five’ mass extinction events,” Nature By: Julie Rossman and Clare Smith Marash
Was bedeutet Earth Overshoot Day? Die Menschen verbrauchen innerhalb von acht Monaten die Kapazität der globalen Ressourcen eines ganzen Jahres. Am 20. August war Earth Overshoot Day, der Tag, an dem die Menschheit die natürlichen Ressourcen eines ganzen Jahres erschöpft hat. Momentan brauchen wir die natürlichen Vorräte auf. Für den Rest des Jahres erhalten wir unser Bedarf an natürlichen Ressourcen aufrecht, indem wir die Vorräte an lokalen Ressourcen reduzieren und mehr Kohlenstoffdioxid in die Atmosphäre befördern. Ähnlich wie die Banken Buchhaltung über Einkommen und Ausgaben führen, führt Global Footprint Network Buchhaltung über Angebot und Nachfrage an natürlichen Ressourcen und ökologische Leistungen durch die Menschheit. 1993 fiel der Earth Overshoot Day auf den 21. Das Konzept des Earth Overshoot Day wurde ursprünglich vom Britischen Think Tank new economics foundation gegründet. Der menschliche Verbrauch an globalen Ressourcen Die Folgen ökologischer Überbeanspruchung Methoden und Aussichten
Brinicle A brinicle (brine icicle, also known as ice stalactite) forms beneath sea ice when a flow of extremely cold, saline water is introduced to an area of ocean water, being the undersea equivalent of a hollow stalactite or icicle. Structure[edit] Under the right conditions, including favorable ocean floor topography, a brine pool may be created. On reaching the seafloor, it will continue to accumulate ice as surrounding water freezes. Formation[edit] The formation of ice from salt water produces marked changes in the composition of the unfrozen water. As the seawater freezes and salt is forced out of the pure ice crystal lattice, the surrounding water becomes more saline. As this supercooled saline water reaches unfrozen seawater below the ice, it will cause the creation of additional ice. When the brinicle becomes thick enough, it becomes self-sustaining. References[edit] External links[edit]
NOVA | scienceNOW | Mass Extinction What caused the mother of all extinctions 250 million years ago? Prime Suspects Examine a lineup of possible culprits in the Permian extinction, vote for your favorite, then see what paleontologist Doug Erwin thinks. Mass Extinction In this audio dispatch, hear why we shouldn't take Earth's hospitable climate for granted. The Cosmic Perspective Has Planet Earth reached a dead end? Ask the Expert The Smithsonian's Doug Erwin answers viewer questions about the Permian and other mass extinctions.
What is Earth Overshoot Day? In 8 Months, Humanity Exhausts Earth's Budget for the Year August 20 is Earth Overshoot Day 2013, marking the date when humanity exhausted nature’s budget for the year. We are now operating in overdraft. For the rest of the year, we will maintain our ecological deficit by drawing down local resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Just as a bank statement tracks income against expenditures, Global Footprint Network measures humanity’s demand for and supply of natural resources and ecological services. In 1993, Earth Overshoot Day—the approximate date our resource consumption for a given year exceeds the planet’s ability to replenish—fell on October 21. Earth Overshoot Day, a concept originally developed by Global Footprint Network partner and U.K. think tank new economics foundation, is the annual marker of when we begin living beyond our means in a given year. The Cost of Ecological Overspending Methodology and Projections Click here for the 2013 press release.
History of astronomy Astronomy is the oldest of the natural sciences, dating back to antiquity, with its origins in the religious, mythological, cosmological, calendrical, and astrological beliefs and practices of prehistory: vestiges of these are still found in astrology, a discipline long interwoven with public and governmental astronomy. It was not completely separated in Europe (see astrology and astronomy) during the Copernican Revolution starting in 1543. In some cultures, astronomical data was used for astrological prognostication. Early history[edit] Calendars of the world have often been set by observations of the Sun and Moon (marking the day, month and year), and were important to agricultural societies, in which the harvest depended on planting at the correct time of year, and for which the nearly full moon was the only lighting for night-time travel into city markets.[5] The common modern calendar is based on the Roman calendar. Prehistoric Europe[edit] Among the discoveries are: Mesopotamia[edit]
Wir riskieren den Fortbestand unserer Zivilisation' – klimareporter° Klimareporter°: Professor Schellnhuber, Sie haben zusammen mit Kollegen vor einem "planetaren Notfall" in Bezug auf das Klima gewarnt. Die Menschheit sei dabei, Kippelemente des Klimasystems umzustoßen – mit verheerenden Folgen. Wieso diese dramatische Ansage? Hans Joachim Schellnhuber: Stellen Sie sich stark vereinfacht vor, Sie sind Fluglotse in einem Tower. Wenn die verbleibende Interventionszeit sich der Reaktionszeit annähert, dann sind Sie dabei, die Kontrolle zu verlieren. So ähnlich ist es mit den Kippelementen – nur, dass es nicht um Sekunden geht, sondern unser Handeln heute Auswirkungen auf die nächsten Hunderte von Jahren haben wird. Das heißt im Fall Erde konkret? Es besteht das Risiko, dass die globale Umwelt bei einer Erderwärmung um vier, fünf oder sechs Grad völlig aus den Fugen gerät und der Planet langfristig sogar in Teilen unbewohnbar wird. Sie haben neun Kippelemente des Klimasystems identifiziert, die möglicherweise bereits kurz vor der Destabilisierung stehen.