The state of humanity is getting better every day. On the whole, people are richer, healthier, and living longer than ever before. We are also a less violent species, it seems. Statistically speaking, my two boys, born in 2004 and 2007, can look forward to a nice long life. Several years ago, a Duke University demographer said:…Continue Reading…
For decades, environmentalists and many earth scientists have been warning that humans are exceeding the earth’s carrying capacity, that our numbers (7 billion and counting) and the way we farm, fish, and live is overwhelming the ecosystems we depend on. In 2009, Johan Rockström and two dozen colleagues proposed a new approach to global sustainability in…Continue Reading…
About that paper in Nature that I had wished made a bigger media splash: well, it did, in fact, receive some prominent coverage, such as here, here, and here. ( I still maintain it should have received more play.) The Time Magazine story carries this great quote from Steve Carpenter: Managing the environment is like…Continue Reading…
This fascinating paper (sub req) in Nature on tipping points should have made a huge splash in the media. Hell, it should have at least prompted one of those 10,000 word posts on The Oil Drum. In her NSF press release, Cheryl Dybas does a nice job of summarizing the key findings. Here’s two snippets…Continue Reading…