The Eventual Collapse - -

It boils down to whether we go out with a bang (nuclear) or a whimper (poisoned by plastics and chemicals). The slow, certain death is by plastics, with almost all reproduction being corrupted. The utter contempt for life-cycles by introducing materials exempt from decay by nature is inexcusable. That is/was part of the original sin of trying to make this planet into a massive City, a human nest and simply pushing all waste out into the "other" of the environment. For every clean spot there is a corresponding dirty spot (or worse).

see these two (from my previous post):

https://www.whp-journals.co.uk/JPS/article/view/855/522

https://doi.org/10.3390/world4030032

Either way, the shock-treatment that humans are giving the planet will have long-lasting repercussions. And mid-term, yes, coastal areas will be underwater displacing millions, and they will not retreat peacefully. And the elite, of course with no responsibility for free, prior, informed consent, WILL attempt mindless geoengineering schemes, which will finish off the oceans, the ozone layer and the food supply. Our manifold mutilations of the oceans are far worse than what you see on land (more on oceans below). But the millions of years it will take for life's recovery is still just a blink in planetary time. I do wonder what this sedimentary layer will look like, besides the heaps of building rubble abandoned by "civilization."

All humanity’s efforts and “progress” has been toward shaping Earth into a comfort-bubble for humanity, an ideal city-scape. But such a remodeling, a re-terraforming, requires unsustainable energy and materials inputs, which is why, with our ever-increasing population, we “need” the resources of multiple Earths to sustain our wants. Wants, not needs. Yet it is this same “remodeling of the planet” intent, which got us into this predicament, which is being entertained to supposedly “save the planet” by geoengineering schemes such as solar radiation “management.” The planet will be just fine, it doesn’t need “saving” - but our city-scape desires, these will rightly not be fine. The introduction of plastics into Earth’s biological systems and the burning of millions of years’ worth of fossil fuels are planet-sized fatal errors which are beyond our means to ameliorate. You cannot put the toothpaste back into the horse after the barn door opens.

Yet, incredibly, alongside this constant construction of this Utopian human nest, the nuclear arms buildup continues apace, allowing for the parallel system of Progress by which civilization can be destroyed by the push of a button. See the report on the buildup of the UK nuclear program and see the satellite views of the submarine naval facilities. The biggest contradiction in the world is the Establishment so strongly resisting any such concepts as degrowth or winding down this human project, while on the other hand, building up the capacity to destroy it all in an atomic winter.

While on the topic of nuclear, consider the idiotic rush to nuclear power potentially re-corrupting this planet with background radiation that took Earth’s history billions of years to dissipate through the nuclear decay of uranium and other actinides to lead. There’s a lot of lead on this planet! And Science wonders why “primitive” creatures such as tardigrades have tolerance to radiation, tardigrades can repair extensive DNA damage caused by radiation. They can also increase the production of DNA repair genes to levels that are some of the highest in animals. They NEEDED that ability to survive in early Earth’s high initial radiation levels.

What I would like to do with this post, is show a few examples of more Hopium resulting from attempts to rescue biodiversity and “save” nature by financial schemes and show why these activities are red herrings, a distraction from what is a truly unsolvable predicament, plastic pollution, which results in an end-point of failing reproduction. It takes many hours to search out all these articles (plus over 9h editing this post), reading to see if they are any good, and copy the links. I hope you read some of them or at least save this post as a future reference source. I’m not trying to write another “doom scroll,” the idea is that you not drift off into complacency then apathy; the Establishment depends on most people being disengaged; their greatest fear is democracy with an informed populace.

This post is long (as some thoughts are) so gmail will cut it short. To see the whole thing, go to the web page at

On biodiversity, please Read:

The biodiversity funding gap “is a dangerous way to approach debates about what is needed to transform societies to improve nature conservation”

The final paragraph in this post, along with the fifth paragraph above that, referring to debt, sums up the problems very well. A report by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact research: “Multiple pathways towards sustainable development goals and climate targets” in Environ Res Let (2024) https://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad80af says that this pathway would further include a reduction of global final energy use per capita of around 40% by 2050, with wealthier countries contributing the largest share to decrease energy inequality (meaning more than 40% reduction). The global North MUST drastically reduce materials throughput. No hay outra camino! And regarding debt, it has been said that there are only two asset classes - property and debt. The neoliberals are attempting to financialize nature, both seizing property by fortress conservation and displacement as well as generating flows of debt which are the tradable instruments in financial markets. Meanwhile, peck by peck, Nature keeps being chipped off this planet to make way for human encroachment and ever-expanding population and consumption. On a finite planet? And you can solve this by throwing more money at it?

On species’ extinction, please read:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03592-y

“The scale of the biodiversity crisis laid bare” “An eloquent requiem for nature risks leaving the reader feeling helpless rather than energized.”

By Julia P. G. Jones, Nature 635, 31-33 (2024) doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-03592-y This is a review of the new book:

“Before They Vanish: Saving Nature's Populations — and Ourselves” by Paul R. Ehrlich, Gerardo Ceballos, Rodolfo Dirzo, foreword by Jared Diamond, John Hopkins University Press, Publication Date September 17, 2024 https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12456/they-vanish

In publishers comment: “…renowned conservation scientists Paul R. Ehrlich, Gerardo Ceballos, and Rodolfo Dirzo urge us to shift our thinking rather than succumb to grief over the losses that humanity faces.” In Preface, the authors write: "The time to start shrinking the human enterprise is now, or nature will shrink it for us"

In this Nature review (in three quote-blocks below), Julia Jones states:

“Ehrlich and his colleagues present powerful evidence of global wildlife decline and more extinctions to come. Yet, it’s a pessimistic portrayal, which undersells reasons to be optimistic about conservation. This matters because optimism has a contribution to make in slowing extinctions.”

“The authors shy away from addressing, or even acknowledging, the environmentalist paradox: that human well-being, by most measures, has increased even as we have destroyed natural ecosystems”

Well, deary, human well-being has been overly enhanced by fossil fuels, duh!

“The authors don’t explore the difficult trade-offs that need to be negotiated to ensure the 8.2 billion humans that currently share this planet can thrive.”

And why, exactly, is it necessary that this fossil-fuels enabled population expansion needs to even carry on, let alone, thrive? You mean 8.2 billion [original post was incorrectly “million”] all with TVs, smart phones, electric vehicles, in LEED-5 housing in luxuriously-planned cities and fresh food from all over the world and guaranteed annual income and full-indexed pensions?

“Although I share the authors’ grief for the natural wonders that have been lost, I think that hope is a more powerful emotion. I want anyone interested in the extinction crisis to know about the successes that conservation is having, the increasingly sophisticated use of evidence to improve effectiveness, and the dedication of people from all walks of life and corners of the planet who are committing their energy to nature recovery. Because, ‘before they vanish’, there is still so much we can do.”

Learn this simple fact: Nature CANNOT recover from our plastics pollution, even with millions more “dedicated people.”

Three COPs walk into a bar…

Please read: https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/09/triple-cop-year-leaders-align-efforts-planetary-health/

In September, the executive secretaries of the three conventions behind these summits said that climate change, land degradation and biodiversity must be tackled “in an integrated way”. In a joint opinion article for the World Economic Forum, they wrote:

“The current ways of doing things are simply not working. We cannot tackle these issues in isolation. Climate change is not just about carbon emissions. Land degradation is not just about soil. Biodiversity loss is not just about endangered species. These issues are part of a much larger, more complex puzzle.”

Colombia could send a unified plan to the three COPs instead of separate submissions in future, COP16 president Susana Muhamad told Reuters in October.

“We do need the monitoring framework to measure progress. Its delayed adoption is unfortunate but can only be seen in the context of the intransigence of northern governments in the negotiations to help finance poorer nations and stem the theft by their companies of the south’s genetic resources.”

Yes, again, theft is a defining characteristic of human behaviour.

Also at the COP16 biodiversity meeting at Cali, Colombia, UN secretary general António Guterres said in his speech that “nature is life,” but there is a “war against it.” He added: “Biodiversity is humanity’s ally. We should move from destroying it to preserving it.”

This word-salad is not quite correct. Biodiversity is the very structure of the web of Life which has, essentially, infected this planet. It is Life itself that we must stop pushing out of the way of our artificial human sphere of influence. The entire biosphere in its pre-human-damage condition, was our support system on Spaceship Earth, yet out of absolute stupidity, we keep on damaging it, as if drilling holes in the International Space Station.

The Smart People sit in their cities and universities and find that there are important issues that need addressing. But the education system funnels people off into specialties which might not grasp the overall picture. So they drill down on the issue that captures their attention. But as the WEF article states, these issues “are part of a much larger, more complex puzzle.” Thus items like CO₂ emissions and global warming, or loss of biodiversity (whole ecosystems) or extinctions (loss of species) can draw off attention from a higher-level threat such as nuclear war or plastics pollution.

The insidiousness of plastics pollution

Researchers were able to take breathe samples from dolphins along the Florida coast.

“First evidence of microplastic inhalation among free-ranging small cetaceans” by Miranda K. Dziobak, Andreas Fahlman, Randall S. Wells, Ryan Takeshita, Cynthia Smith, Austin Gray, John Weinstein and Leslie B. Hart, PLOS-One, Published October 16, 2024 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0309377

“Inhaled microplastic particles were detected in all sampled dolphins from Sarasota Bay, Florida (n = 5) and Barataria Bay, Louisiana (n = 6). Findings from this study indicate inhalation as a relevant microplastic exposure route for bottlenose dolphins. Given significant gaps in knowledge regarding the health effects posed by inhaled particles, implications for these findings are unknown; however, laboratory rodent and human epidemiological studies suggest lung damage as a possible outcome of this exposure route. The potential for particle translocation into other tissues presents further opportunities for health risks throughout the individual. For areas like BB, inhaled microplastics are particularly concerning as wildlife in this area experienced myriad health impacts due to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Poor pulmonary health has been reported in Barataria dolphins related to the spill, so inhaled microplastic particles could exacerbate existing lung disease.”

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-imaging-invisible-advanced-tech-microplastics.html Ye Li et al, “In situ imaging of microplastics in living organisms based on mass spectrometry technology” Eco-Environment & Health (2024). https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eehl.2024.05.007 by Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, MEE.

See the diagram illustrating the mass spectrometry imaging process using MALDI and SIMS techniques combined with TOF and Orbitrap analyzers for in situ identification and quantification of microplastics within biological tissues. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-plastic-chemical-phthalate-dna-breakage.html

Henderson AL, Karthikraj R, Berdan EL, Sui SH, Kannan K, Colaiácovo MP (2024) “Exposure to benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) leads to increased double-strand break formation and germline dysfunction in Caenorhabditis elegans” PLoS Genetics (2024) https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1011434

“Specifically, BBP causes oxidative stress and breaks in the DNA strands, which lead to cell death and egg cells with the wrong number of chromosomes.”

Does THAT get your goat yet?

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-millions-groundwater-contaminated-pfas.html Andrea K. Tokranov et al, “Predictions of groundwater PFAS occurrence at drinking water supply depths in the United States” Science (2024). https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.ado6638

There are more than 12,000 types of PFAS, not all of which can be detected with current tests; the USGS study tested for the presence of 24 common types. The USGS estimates consider the presence of at least one of those 24 types of PFAS. The most frequently detected compounds were perfluorobutane sulfonate known as PFBS, perfluorooctane sulfonate known as PFOS and perfluorooctanoate known as PFOA.

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-nanoplastics-effectiveness-antibiotics.html Researchers show nanoplastics can reduce the effectiveness of antibiotics. Leonard Dick et al, The adsorption of drugs on nanoplastics has severe biological impact, Scientific Reports (2024). https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-75785-4 You can watch how nanoplastics capture and shred terracycline.

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-microplastics-freshwater-plastic-production.html Microplastics increasing in freshwater, directly related to plastic production. By Kevin Sliman, Pennsylvania State University. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176619 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-02968-x (on ingesting plastics) about 27M tons still going into landfills.

Jutamas Bussarakum et al, “Decadal changes in microplastic accumulation in freshwater sediments: Evaluating influencing factors” Science of The Total Environment (2024). https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176619 https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.715924/full While estimates suggest that 7,000 to 25,000 kilotons of plastic enter the ocean each year, only about 250 kilotons are believed to be floating on the surface.

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-million-plastic-bottles-microplastic-queensland.html 700 million plastic bottles: We worked out how much microplastic is in Queensland's Moreton Bay https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsestwater.4c00536 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969724011264 https://theconversation.com/700-million-plastic-bottles-we-worked-out-how-much-microplastic-is-in-queenslands-moreton-bay-238892

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-satellite-imagery-plastic-remote-beaches.html Satellite imagery now identifies plastic on remote beaches. We're currently sending well over 10 million tonnes of plastic trash into our oceans every year. It's estimated that by 2030 that figure could reach 60 million. Jenna Guffogg et al, “Beached Plastic Debris Index; a modern index for detecting plastics on beaches” Marine Pollution Bulletin (2024). https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117124

Jenna A. Guffogg et al, “Quantifying Marine Plastic Debris in a Beach Environment Using Spectral Analysis” Remote Sensing (2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs13224548 https://phys.org/news/2019-05-australian-islands-home-million-pieces.html May 16, 2019 “Remote island beach plastics point to greater waste problem” Scientific Reports (2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-43375-4

I know: let’s make this area a protected biodiversity zone, as per COP16! But plastics pollution now covers the whole planet! The folly of our ways…

Photo by vianet ramos on Unsplash

or see this one: https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2019/5cdd2de6e5485.jpg

(Dr Jennifer Lavers with washed-up plastic debris on Cocos (Keeling) Islands beach. Credit: Silke Stuckenbrock)

Microplastics in Wight estuary https://phys.org/news/2024-10-uncovers-environmental-crisis-isle-wight.html https://phys.org/news/2021-05-companies-main-microplastic-pollution-uk.html May, 2021 Jamie Woodward et al. “Acute riverine microplastic contamination due to avoidable releases of untreated wastewater” Nature Sustainability (2021).http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00718-2

https://phys.org/news/2021-03-microplastic-sizes-hudson-raritan-estuary-coastal.html Kendi Bailey et al. “Quantification and composition of microplastics in the Raritan Hudson Estuary: Comparison to pathways of entry and implications for fate” Chemosphere (2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.129886 And not just the microplastic particles, there is also the issue of production chemicals being disposed of into waterways. “Toxin was released into the Congaree River in South Carolina: Agencies did little to stop it, greens say” by Sammy Fretwell, The State https://phys.org/news/2024-11-toxin-congaree-river-south-carolina.html A study by the Environmental Integrity Project, a national public interest organization, found that of eight similar plastics plants it studied, factories near Columbia and Charleston had some of the highest releases of 1,4- dioxane, a chemical tied to an array of health ailments, including cancer.

An Alpek Polyester plant in the Gaston area near Columbia released 23,728 pounds of 1,4-dioxane to the Congaree River in 2022, ranking it second in total releases behind only a plant in West Virginia that discharged 29,960 pounds. Alpek's plant at Moncks Corner near Charleston released 9,756 pounds to the Cooper River, the report said.

But according to the report, there are no federal limits on how much 1,4-dioxane can be released from plastics plants. West Virginia only recently added state discharge limits for the plant in that state, the study said.

"This toxic pollution from plastic production is unacceptable," Congaree Riverkeeper Bill Stangler said in a statement released by the Environmental Integrity Project. "Our federal and state agencies need to step up and protect our river and the downstream communities."

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-scourge-plastic-pollution.html

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-plastics-lifesaver-environmental-threat.html

https://phys.org/news/2024-11-method-micro-nanoplastics.html Low-cost method removes micro- and nanoplastics from water by FAPESP by: Ana L.C.P. de Brito, João V. Mattioni, Gabriel R. Ramos, Marcelo Nakamura, Henrique E. Toma, “Direct monitoring of the enzymatically sequestering and degrading of PET microplastics using hyperspectral Raman microscopy” Micron (2024). https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.micron.2024.103722

PET is a raw material for plastic bottles and other items. It is a major pollutant, not least because its degradation produces terephthalic acid (C₆H₄(COOH)₂) and ethylene glycol (C₂H₄(OH)₂), both of which are toxic.

"Nanoparticles aren't visible to the naked eye or detectable using conventional microscopes, so they're very hard to identify and remove from water treatment systems," said Henrique Eisi Toma, a professor at the Institute of Chemistry (IQ-USP) and last author of the Micron article.

The procedure developed at USP (University of São Paulo) uses magnetic nanoparticles functionalized with polydopamine, a polymer derived from dopamine, a neurotransmitter present in the human organism. These nanoparticles can bind to micro- and nanoplastic waste, and the combined particles can then be removed from water via application of a magnetic field.

Instead of nonrenewable petrochemicals, bioplastics are derived from renewable and biodegradable sources.

"It's a good idea, but before they fully degrade, bioplastics also fragment and form micro- or nanoplastics. Being biocompatible, they're even more insidious because they can interact more directly with our organisms and trigger biological reactions," Toma said.

In the study led by Toma, magnetic nanoparticles of iron (II, III) oxide, or black iron oxide (Fe3O4), were synthesized by co-precipitation and later coated with polydopamine (PDA) by partially oxidizing dopamine in a mildly alkaline solution to form Fe₃O₄@PDA. Lipase was immobilized on this substrate. Hyperspectral Raman microscopy was used to monitor sequestration and degradation of the plastic in real time.

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-bioplastics-alternative-petro-plastics.html Are bioplastics really the wonder alternative to petro plastics? "By developing bioplastics, we place the burden of manufacturing these materials on agricultural land that should primarily serve to feed the population," insisted Pauline Debrabandere from the NGO Zero Waste.

Here is a big problem in reporting these issues. This article below, if I want to copy out one paragraph to show you what it is about, to encourage you to go look at it, that would be rather expensive, since it comes from Elsevier Science. For a not-for-profit, online news report, the paragraph would be considered an under-500 word excerpt, which would cost around $130 to use. So I will summarize a few important parts. But you may go read the online text, no problem, it has the abstract, a very long summary, charts, snippets of each section of the report, references, etc.

“Harnessing bio and (Photo) catalysts for microplastics degradation and remediation in soil environment” by Haruna Adamu, Usman Bello, Usman IbrahimTafida, Zaharaddeen N. Garba, Ahmad Galadima,  Mohammed Musa Lawan, Sani Isah Abba, Mohammad Qamar, Journal of Environmental Management Volume 370, November 2024, 122543 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122543 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301479724025295

Soil pollution by microplastics (MPs)

Even with the limited research done so far, discoveries are alarming, revealing a world-wide problem with serious effects on the vital web of soil life such as earthworms, microbes and fungi. The MPs arise from degraded plastics debris, often from plastic row coverings, weathered textiles and landfill residues, and since soil cannot effectively expel MPs, they impair water retention and nutrient cycling to plant roots and carry toxic payloads. Earthworms, mites and larvae ingest MPs by mistaking them for digestible soil particles, leading to internal damage and disrupted life cycles. The consequences are significant and require immediate attention to reduce introduction of MPs to soil and find methods to capture and safely remove them, and this study presents some possible options.

But there’s always Hope, right? “Hope” is not a strategy, it is a mental state where you have pushed all pressing issues out of mind.

In lead-up to the convention for a new global plastics treaty, phys.org issued this press release:

A study released in Science determines that just four policies can reduce mismanaged plastic waste—plastic that isn't recycled or properly disposed of and ends up as pollution—by 91% and plastic-related greenhouse gases by one-third. The policies are:

·        Mandate new products be made with 40% post-consumer recycled plastic

·        Cap new plastic production at 2020 levels

·        Invest significantly in plastic waste management—such as landfills and waste collection services

·        Implement a small fee on plastic packaging

By continuing with business as usual, the world would generate enough litter between 2011 and 2050 to cover Manhattan in a heap of plastic ten times the height of the Empire State Building.

In a business-as-usual future, greenhouse gas emissions related to plastic would jump 37% from 2020 levels to 3.35 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2050—this is the same as nearly 9,000 natural gas-fired power plants operating for one year or the energy use for more than 436 million homes for one year.

A. Samuel Pottinger et al, “Pathways to reduce global plastic waste mismanagement and greenhouse gas emissions by 2050” Science (2024) https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.adr3837 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adr3837

OK, so if someone proposes some new regulation policies, I must shred them, correct? So here goes.

These policy proposals are meddling with the edges of the problem, like blind-folded people feeling an elephant and trying to describe it. If you have read any of these plastics posts at all, you would know that this “elephant,” plastics production on this planet of Life, must be put down. But remember always, as with fossil fuels, the overpopulation by humans was enabled by the proliferation of plastics, so both must be wound down in tandem, this should take care of point #2. On point #1, making things out of recycled plastics can have seriously consequences, see next article below. On point #3, how do you “invest in” (throw money at) plastic waste management? From the charts in the study article it looks like most of N. America’s mismanaged plastic waste goes into landfills. Landfills, on this small blue planet that should be a carry-in, carry-out Nature reserve? And it looks like, from the study, better plastic waste management, while it means less passing out into the ecosystem, more goes to collection, incineration (atmospheric disposal) and landfills. Is there enough room on this planet for expanding human population, expanding food production, expanded mining for “energy transition” AND ever-expanding landfills?

On point #4, this is similar upper-middle-class ideology to carbon-pricing. It is part of a desire to throw money at a problem, feeling “there, we’re done with that,” and wishfully thinking that there will be a good outcome. Similar to point #2, plastic packaging must be eliminated ASAP and where would a plastics price be placed? On consumers, with complex collections issues placed on retailers? Or on producers who write it off as cost of business. And when you put a price on something, you create debt - debt for one, income for another, without a secure link to an environmental benefit.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.143319 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653524022173 “From e-waste to living space: Flame retardants contaminating household items add to concern about plastic recycling” Megan Liu, Sicco H. Brandsma, Erika Schreder, Chemosphere Volume 365, October 2024, 143319 https://toxicfreefuture.org/research/toxic-flame-retardants-in-recycled-plastics/

Toxic flame retardants, linked to cancer and endocrine disruption, are showing up where they’re not expected: in black plastic household products including a takeout sushi tray, spatulas and other kitchen utensils, as well as costume beads, travel games, and other toys.

We’ve come to expect plastics in nearly every kind of product, from toys and food packaging to building materials and apparel, and we know that many plastics contain toxic ingredients. This peer-reviewed study led by Toxic-Free Future found that some toxic chemicals are entering plastic products through the back door—via contaminated recycled plastic. https://toxicfreefuture.org/press-room/first-ever-study-finds-cancer-causing-chemicals-in-black-plastic-food-contact-items-sold-in-the-u-s/

https://phys.org/news/2024-11-uk-plastic-packaging-households-wishcycle.html Research into UK's use of plastic packaging finds households 'wishcycle' rather than recycle. "Wishcycling—the act of putting packaging in recycling bins and hoping for the best, rather than knowing it's recyclable—is something households are doing due to confusing product labels and differing recycling facilities around the country, experts warn."

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Yet the wild west of human “Progress” continues to accelerate with zero regard to the damage being done to Life, our support-system, on this planet.

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-atlas-human-planet-years-population.html Atlas of the Human Planet: 50 years of population growth and urbanization trends uncovered. By European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC)

Here is the link to the Atlas, have a look!   https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/6bfe5db2-7baf-11ef-bbbe-01aa75ed71a1/language-en then click on download for the PDF.

The global population has nearly doubled from four billion people in 1975 to just under 8 billion in 2020. Today, 45% of the world's population lives in cities, while 35% live in towns and semi-dense areas. Only 20% live in rural areas.

Today there are more than 11 thousand cities worldwide—compared with 6,400 cities in 1975. Urbanized areas consume 75% of energy resources, leading to 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Along with built-up surface, high population density is the most visible sign of urbanization. Tokyo, for example, is one of the world's most populous cities, with more than 37 million people living in the metropolitan area. The city's famous Shibuya Crossing is one of the world's busiest pedestrian crossings, where up to 3,000 people can cross the road when traffic lights turn green.

The EU has a unique capacity, through its Copernicus Space Program, to observe the world autonomously. With over 20 years of research, the JRC is at the forefront of mapping human presence on Earth from space: our buildings, our cities, and our population.

The Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) and the information described and presented in this Atlas are the result of more than a decade of research on the extraction of information on human settlements from Earth Observation (EO) satellite images, and the integration of data from different sources.

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-laser-track-space-debris-masses.html There are currently about 40,000 pieces of space debris objects with a size of more than 10 centimeters orbiting the Earth; there are about 1 million pieces that are 1 centimeter or larger. They are traveling at about 30,000 km/h and are not all flying in the same direction.

"At the same time, we can use the data obtained from the measurements to predict the position of satellites and space debris much better, locate them, map them with SLR and predict their future orbits very precisely, which contributes to more safety in orbit."

"For orbit prediction, we have to model all the forces on the satellites," says Torsten Mayer-Gürr from the Institute of Geodesy at TU Graz. "This also includes the Earth's gravitational force, which is influenced by the presence of masses such as water.

"The combination of our orbit modeling with SLR measurements now allows much more accurate calculations in our GROOPS software, which is freely accessible to everyone. As far as we know, we are the only ones to offer such a comprehensive package for gravity field determination, orbit determination and SLR processing free of charge.

"This open source access has the advantage for us that we get feedback very quickly if something needs to be improved." See it at: https://github.com/groops-devs/groops

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-satellites-china-thousand-exceeding-brightness.html

Anthony Mallama et al, Brightness of the Qianfan Satellites, arXiv (2024). https://dx.doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2409.20432 Watch the video on how China will launch 10's of thousands of satellites - to compete with SpaceEx! It’s in Mandarin, but you’re learning that, right, before they take over?

https://phys.org/news/2024-11-scientific-lots-reality-lot-messy.html Kate Dooley et al, “Over-reliance on land for carbon dioxide removal in net-zero climate pledges” Nature Communications (2024) https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53466-0

There are multiple errors underlying carbon marketing. One is the desire to throw money at a problem, feeling there, we’re done with that, and wishfully thinking that there will be a good outcome. Another serious issue is attempting to translate parts of Nature into market-tradable assets. The only type of asset tradable in financial markets is debt obligations. So when some aspect of Nature is equated with debt, one needs to follow the money. Who got the money, who got the debt, and who gets screwed when (not if) there is default. Another problem is how governments misunderstand how financial markets work - all they see is massive flows of money, and if only they could find a way to siphon off some of that market money (which is usually VERY environmentally destructive) into “saving” Nature. This was also the hope of COP16 in Colombia. Although the authority and influence of finance is considerable, that power resides in the realm of the capitalist/colonial ideology which legitimates theft as its operational principle - all the world is presumed to lie there waiting to be exploited. Thus, any consideration for Indigenous Rights and local land tenure more than weasel-words is a fantasy.

https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(24)00473-1 “Framing resilience to manage complex environmental systems” by Ian Townend, Jon French, Robert Nicholls, PERSPECTIVE, Volume 7, Issue 11P1941-1952 November 15, 2024, One Earth (2024) https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2024.09.008

https://phys.org/news/2024-11-resilience-index-planet-safe-space.html Researchers are calling for a 'resilience index' to be used as an indicator of policy success instead of the current focus on GDP. They say that GDP ignores the wider implications of development and provides no information on our ability to live within our planet's “safe operating space.”

"Resilience is about the ability of a system to prepare for, resist, recover and adapt to disturbances in order to function successfully," says Professor Ian Townend, lead author of the paper from the University of Southampton.

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(a few footnotes previously cited)

https://thebulletin.org/2024/11/the-death-of-karen-silkwood-and-the-plutonium-economy/

https://thebulletin.org/premium/2024-11/united-kingdom-nuclear-weapons-2024/ see the satellite images of UK nuclear submarine facilities.