Mar 18, 2011 | Carolyn's Books
Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to be a psychotherapist in Ancient Rome in 350 AD. The usual problems would have brought people to my office, of course. Personal troubles, sexual difficulties, family quarrels, mental imbalances. But as I listened daily to my clients’ tales of woe and also picked up wider news in the forums and gossip from my slaves I would have become more and more aware of the larger issues intruding on the decreasingly comfortable lives of all Romans — shortages that our overextended armies could no longer control, the changing complexion of the Roman Legions themselves, northern tribes in rebellion, the gradual disintegration of our political systems, roads and infrastructure. What did it all mean?
Mar 18, 2011 | Collapse of Industrial Civilization
The current tragic events in Japan bring an extra poignancy to this, the final excerpt from Chapter 3 of Richard Heinberg’s new book ‘The End of Growth’, which is set for publication by New Society Publishers in September 2011. In this section Richard discusses the role of CLIMATE CHANGE, POLLUTION, ACCIDENTS, ENVIRONMENTAL DECLINE, AND NATURAL DISASTERS as a limitation to economic growth.
Mar 17, 2011 | Video
A video message to the average American who may not be aware of the collapse of industrial civilization.
Mar 17, 2011 | Energy Depletion
The existential crisis for the world’s nuclear industry could hardly have come at a worse moment. The epicentre of the world’s oil supply is disturbingly close to its own systemic crisis as the Gulf erupts in conflict. Even if the world navigates today’s crisis without an energy shock, a more intractable long-term crisis is brewing.
Mar 17, 2011 | Trauma
While much has been written in the field of psychology about resilience, the disaster environment provides an active and ongoing opportunity to reframe, reorganize and construct new meaning in a compressed timeline. In Japan, the disruption they face challenges, as a society, their capacities to respond to widespread loss of human life, environmental devastation and infrastructure. The sheer magnitude of the natural and man-made catastrophe boggles the mind for those of us who are, for the present, frozen bystanders. While we may share some of the intense anxiety and fear, we cannot grasp the full impact, both physiologically and psychologically to this country.
Mar 17, 2011 | Collapse of Industrial Civilization
ORIGINAL ARTICLE Since I started talking about the end of the industrial age in this blog, not quite five years ago, a fair number of my readers have had some difficulty imagining what industrial decline would look like in practice. That’s been a hard question to...
Mar 14, 2011 | Climate Change/Environment
MSNBC SOMA, Japan — A third explosion in four days rocked the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in northeast Japan early Tuesday, the country’s nuclear safety agency said. The blast at Dai-ichi Unit 2 followed two hydrogen explosions at the...
Mar 13, 2011 | Climate Change/Environment
A hydrogen explosion reportedly ripped through another reactor at the Japanese nuclear plant where a reactor exploded Saturday, deepening a crisis government officials are calling the worst the nation has faced since World War II.
Mar 13, 2011 | Energy Depletion
The tragedy of Fukushima is a tragedy for all mankind. We do not yet see it, but this event will be remembered as a turning point in the development of humanity. From this point forward, if nothing else, Fukushima will give pause to every politician, or technocrat in the future who holds up the torch of “nuclear power” as the great hope for our energy-starved planet.
Mar 12, 2011 | Climate Change/Environment
The powerful earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami Friday appears to have moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet (2.4 meters) and shifted the Earth on its axis.
“At this point, we know that one GPS station moved (8 feet), and we have seen a map from GSI (Geospatial Information Authority) in Japan showing the pattern of shift over a large area is consistent with about that much shift of the land mass,” said Kenneth Hudnut, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).