Myth of Sustainability by Dr. McPherson

"He's a wealth of knowledge on many key environmental topics, from global warming to peak oil, and he's an excellent instructor," said Darlene DeHudy, the MCC Meijer Library and Information Technology Center reference librarian organizing McPherson's talk in Collegiate Hall. The former professor of natural resources and environment at the University of Arizona will address "The Myth of Sustainability, the Importance of Durability, and a Method for Saving the Planet." Follow us on Twitter!
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[@COSkywatch]

He has been so right. Look how much we have spiraled out of control since this lecture.

[@PoetDoc8]

Hero of our times, thank you, Guy McPherson.

[@rainbowthrustars]

Interesting. Watched this today and this video feels even more relevant now than it did back then.

[@SuperPenguin5495]

x 2

[@richardscathouse]

Society is in it's final collapse. A blind kitten could see

[@lonewanderer9982]

@@SuperPenguin5495 X3

[@SteffiReitsch]

I'm old and I've had a good life. I've got about 20 years left having fun and I think I'll make it through until I die before the Great Collapse comes. I never had kids, so I don't have to worry about their fate. BUT YOU YOUNG PEOPLE ARE SCREWED! You're going to live to see a MAD MAX world.

[@japandata]

Instant Karma's going to get you Going to knock you right on the head You better get yourself together Pretty soon you're going to be dead

[@grindupBaker]

Pauline Schneider The hypothesis is severely overstated. As a simple example, there's 22,000 Gt carbon/hydrogen fuels in the biggest estimate of coal, oil, gas reserves. Synthetic oil can be manufactured from coal at a ratio of 1(oil):3(coal). Humans have used 370 Gt so have used 1.5%. Mind you it includes gas fracking, Arctic drilling, scraping tops off mountains for the coal and so on, but it's there. Vehicles don't have to run off gasoline, hydrogen fuel cells would be preferable, propane gas is also possible. Global warming is real and will happen but it's slow for humans. For example, it is going to prevent the next Ice Age (if humans of 2100 to 2800 decide they want to). There's no reason for a viable human population of a billion or maybe a couple billion not to exist for millions of years or indefinitely. Many other species will die due to the warming so future humans will not have the rich diversity of life around them that we enjoy.

[@madelefant05]

Very uplifting.

[@haywood4299]

grindupBaker yeah unfortunately those massive reserves are low quality and difficult to extract. It makes no sense to use 2 tons of coal worth of energy to extract one ton of new coal. Most of the coal will never be used because it is just not worth the effort. Hydrogen fuel cells are useless because of the energy required to get the hydrogen in the first place. Good luck trying to build a plane that runs on hydrogen or electricity too.

[@japandata]

grindupBaker The great extinction events on this planet have all followed large CO2 gassing events, but none have changed as fast as the one we're experiencing now. The fastest took 10,000 years to trigger great change. Ours is happening in less than 100 years. It's won't just affect your grandchildren. It will affect you.

[@russo4life126]

He makes a lot of great points here. First heard of Dr. McPherson on the Smells Like Human Spirit Podcast, and now a fan

[@WoodstockG54]

I go to share it, then I realize, there is no one to share it with; not even my wife. We deserve any suffering coming our way.

[@SPEZIO27]

The planet is about to make a comeback. The planet is spitting out human contamination with continual growth & compound interest.

[@MOPCLinguistica]

1:10 "as we save more babies that would otherwise die, it increases human population overshoot"

[@JosephNordenbrockartistraction]

At my age I won't be a living witness to the worst but I know many other animals will die off before I kick off. The only entertainment I'm really looking forward to is seeing the deniers changing their tune and pulling their hair out saying "Oh shit !! "

[@grindupBaker]

I think this is over-hyped as regards global warming by the opinions of Dr. M and others, though I do like listening to him, very different from looking at a "climate denier" video or site and seeing their relentless drivel. The warming is a very slow process on human time-scales so it's a decision of today's toddlers and they'll not necessarily have as many arseholes as today's adult bunch, and if they do then que sera sera. I doubt that there will be much species kill-off this century, though I would expect it to accelerate. There's no threat to humans because humans are simply following the pre-programmed imperative er Darwin and all that, programmed to multiply until the balance point happens and death rate - birth rate. If life could somehow be made much better for most humans suddenly magically then population increase would accelerate until it got sufficiently rough again to stop it.

[@paulineprojectlove]

grindupBaker humans are animals and subject to the same laws of thermodynamics. What happens to habitat and other species, happens to us. It's not just "warming" that happens, it's loss of habitat for living creatures. We are not special. We go extinct with everything else. 200 species go extinct every DAY.

[@grindupBaker]

paulineprojectlove No, the human species isn't going extinct in the foreseeable future. Regarding your "humans are animals", I don't know where you live but I live in a quality neighbourhood, knives & forks, the whole show.

[@radman1136]

@@grindupBaker Your pronouncements sound awfully confident, please tell us which science you hold your doctorate in so we can properly weigh it's import.

[@ksan1648]

Yeah, the "crow eating contest" should be spectacular.

[@JohnnySilver831]

I'm not sure if you read my whole comment or just the first sentence, but we are in complete agreement. My statement that nature will take care of it was me essentially saying that I don't believe that humans will make an active decision to save themselves until major suffering takes place, and I'd even wager that they probably still won't after that.

[@pasqualeargenio6624]

Finally a realistic environmental analysis! The IPCC is completely conservative & therefore optimistic. Not only are CO2 concentrations growing, but the rate of growth is increasing -- exponentially -- especially as the vast 3rd world industrializes. Add to this the feedback loops he discusses and the inertia we have already added to the system: the ocean has been absorbing CO2 and heat for decades. We are seeing the storms of change now. We don't know when the next tipping point will arrive, but 2050 is probably conservative.

[@trtomei2]

the fuckingf oceans have been collecting CO2 since the time water has been stabile on the rotating planet under it . the only way wee go extinct is thermonuclear ww3

[@pas9ify]

Tr Really? And when they fuck, what do you get? Little lakes?

[@trtomei2]

your comment is unintellegable , i was referring to the way that our planets water sequesters CO2 and createsbasaltic rocks im pretty sure . Im also aware and accept that we are raising the earths temperature, but a far bigger threat is ocean acidification= kills plankton and cyanobacteria which o2 comes from dies . the trees produce muchless than 40 or 50 % O2 When the plankton die the many large filter feeders, small fish, the shit that eats the small fish then their predators and so on

[@paulineprojectlove]

Tr the planet is 4.5 billion years old. humans have been here 2million years. the oceans have alternated between being rich in oxygen and rich in CO2. Each time there is a shift, there is a major extinction event of 90% of life. We are a species that can actually observe and recognize our own extinction event, and know that we did it. Well, most of us can at least. We are living during the 6th great extinction. Oceans as they have evolved since the last great extinction cannot tolerate acidification of high levels of CO2. When life in the oceans die, we die.

[@cr4yv3n]

"we're all going to die by 2030...i am an optimist"

[@gumpyflyale2542]

you maybe me and my family will thrive.

[@gumpyflyale2542]

"but In any event I can't imagine we will have an artic ocean completely covered in ice year round by 2020" Guy McPherson December 2 2014.

[@Jc-ms5vv]

@@gumpyflyale2542 it's funny you're so focused on his predictions that didnt come true and ignore all the facts he shares

[@sharonrose2751]

@@Jc-ms5vv actually that I true.

[@Jc-ms5vv]

@@sharonrose2751 what guys failed prediction?

[@BrianBetron]

Nice job

[@chaz0matic]

Guy 2012 is far different then the NTHE Guy 2014 ... Here he is suggesting that his local self reliance is stronger then civilization itself while he lives within it... But when the oncoming climate crisis collapses civilization, with the runaway warming not far behind who knows how well survival will do... In our final showdown with Mother Nature, like Guy always reminds us, Nature Bats Last.... God bless us all....

[@1stMemberEver]

After 2012 climate change has accelerated even more and more feedback loops has been found. He also didn't consider what happens to nuclear plants and radioactive waste storage sites after collapse.

[@erinbarr6369]

charles fisch there is no god

[@elainebraindrain3174]

@@erinbarr6369 yep

[@sergioluislr]

I don't know about others programs, but in the BBC Natural World episode called Permaculture a farm for the future, the peak oil is discussed through interviews with scientists from Post Carbon Institute, a geologist from oil industry among others. Look for this episode it's really insteresting. Greetings from Brazil.

[@joaomonica6551]

Love you Guy

[@PoetDoc8]

Perhaps what you call primitivism is another word for normal, simple, survival and learning the old art of celebrating and preserving what is enduringly beautiful in life? Its a humility at odds with modern hubris, a humility which paradoxically, creates grandeur: connectedness, enjoyment of simple beauties, and the almost ineffable honor and comfort of knowing we are part of a solution.

[@goyavesETmangues]

. . As someone from a poor country, economy collapse doesnt mean much to me since our economy has never taken off with high unemployment and poverty rates. We didnt have to wait for the 2007 crash to see through the brutality of capitalism. What we need are sustainable solutions but the western ecological movement looks to me a lot like their opponents: Self-righteous, anti-human white men and we all know how such a group of individuals has historically been dangerous to humankind . .

[@janklaas6885]

GREAT TALK 59:10 population overshoot 1:14:20peak oil

[@richardscathouse]

Bull. All of nankind could live an American standard of living in South Texas. Do the math

[@notfarfromgone1]

There we go - awesome feedback. Superb.

[@MrEttolruf]

i'm from canada that's supposed to be a capitalistic system. it's not. it's a nation of corporations and polliticians doing pretty much whatever they want.

[@andy199121]

Just to alter an alternative to one of his points, there is actually evidence to suggest that life expectancy when we were Hunter gatherers was around 60/70, it actually decline during the agricultural revolution and even more during the beginning of industrial revolution. So we have actually only just got back what we lost through our own advances.

[@skibumwilly1895]

In “Occupying Chairlifts” a simple rule tweak on inheritance ends up changing the direction and purpose of modern human life! Here’s a fair way to transition forward to where we’re rewarded for cooperating and creating instead of competing and conquering. It's something specific we can demand. If this isnt the best answer, at least we’re thinking about what might be. Are we really just this close to having it work right? Oh yeah, it's a Ski movie! “Occupying Chairlifts” on KZbin!

[@richardscathouse]

As someone who has been beat up and chewed up by capitalist society. At 60 years old I'm just waiting to die. I help abandoned cats. But. I do wish euthanasua was a more respected alternative. Often the pain is unbearable. Under the current medical cult I find pain management is an impossible dream

[@chrisruss9861]

May life get better for you. You do good work caring for cats.

[@TheSweatyTramp]

A very informing lecture well done i find this interesting and ive applied to do a Bsc in environmental science for next year just waiting to hear back from the university now. So hopefully i can get my teeth into some of these topics

[@xmenesesx]

must. share. educate. now.

[@louisehoff]

Listening to this in 2022, everything you are saying becomes clearer: no wonder the trolls have villified you since you were calling it like it is even more than now! I think your climate science together with notes about re-using and repairing, trainsition town life, etc. was even more threatening to the wall street lemming-leaders. great droll sense of humor!

[@eclairtreo]

Agreed, and here we are, December, 2022. Whoa!

[@G2thesecondpower]

Too late. I thought I was an optimist, but actually I'm a realist. We don't have the time it takes to turn the Titanic (a good metaphor in more ways than one) that is mass civilization around, to do anything but mitigate the very worst. I have a child in this world and I want to believe more moderate conclusions, but at this point I think it's so much wishful thinking. It's not "alarmism" if it's the truth, based on current research. You better believe that I am alarmed. Everyone should be.

[@janklaas6885]

we did turn the titanic, it sails from fore to downwarts now. 😁

[@pelkaim]

7 400 000 000 people in 2016...... 1 000 000 000 every decade . That's it !!

[@hitssquad]

From Google: "a typical barrel is that the 42 gallons of crude oil will result in more than 44 gallons of petroleum products." "A Barrel of Crude Oil contains 42 US Gallons (or 158.987 Litres) of Petroleum ... Every 42-US-gallon barrel of crude provides a little more than 44 gallons of ..." "May 13, 2011 - ... barrel contains 42 gallons of crude oil which yields about 44 gallons ..." "Barrel of Crude Oil. (Gallons) ... 44 gallons of petroleum products." . "It is 42 gallons, not 44" Prove it.

[@alanjones1956]

17 February 2021 nearly ten years on and it ain't looking good. The US is being frozen to the core just now due to The Jet Stream going on an almighty jolly!

[@brooksanderson2599]

Yep! I was in Laredo, Texas, in late February and the freeze killed frost-resistant "fan palms" (Washingtonia sp.) that were old when I first visited there in early 1960s. It also turned the South Texas Winter vegetable crop to mush. Where I live in Northern Mexico we are in Severe, or worse, drought. If the USA Summer grain and vegetable crops fail to drought expect food shortages.

[@andy199121]

5 months later it’s being turned into a desert

[@griggovich]

Great vid, Guy. To bad so many people still have their head in the sand.

[@TheRealSnakePlisken]

OG…McPherson. He was correct all along.

[@ElisabethDevyt]

is that picture from before or after VVorldvvar II? It's just not polite to ask your age

[@grindupBaker]

Re synthetic oil from coal (my reply to Joe Disco somewhere) I had seen a short video clip on it. Now I'm watching Prof. Muller "Global Warming vs. Nature's Cycle and Sorting the Two Out" and he mentions Nazis made oil from coal and South Africa is doing it, so this will happen if the carbon-burning energy route continues to be chosen, so "peak oil" is a bit inaccurate without factoring that in because coal recoverables are massively more (~20x maybe I seem to recall) than oil and shale oil.

[@notfarfromgone1]

Well, I live off the grid, produce a lot of my own energy and food, and work every day in a professional capacity to drive sustainability, social intelligence, and most importantly, evolution in thought and action. Life long vegan, car-free, and working to build our better selves into our institutions, laws, and interactions. We humans are to "blame," but it's hubris to deny that everything about your comfortable life is an outcome of the same destruction we blame on "everyone else".

[@G2thesecondpower]

I agree with you that we should do everything within our power to do something, but I do wonder if it's "too late" to do anything but mitigate the worst--as I sated previously. B hey, avoiding total extinction at the expense of civilization as we know it, is far better than nothing! Also, I have watched several of Guy's video's, and I don't think he advocates "giving up" either. However, Transition Towns are all well and good until there's no water and years of intractable drought. Then what.

[@williambunting803]

There is so much to say to your theory. I believe sustainability is possible, but. Recognising the scale and nature of the problems is step one. For Australia the scale can be appreciated by our per person energy consumption which is a continuous energy drain of 7 kilowatts energy equivalent. That is every Australian 24 hours 365 days per year. The first thing to appreciate about that is that as that is almost entirely drawn from fossil fuels 75% of that energy is wasted as heat. So if that energy was from a sustainable source and in the form of electrical energy for all uses then the energy drain takes on a different perspective. Then there are many levels of rationalisation that can significantly alter that energy need without substantial loss of quality of life for the average person. The reason why an orderly path to a sustainable future can be seen in Robert Sapolsky’s work with Baboons, ego, aggression, stress, empathy, and community harmony. This is so evident in the election since you made this talk in the election of one Donald Trump, a zero empathy individual who has gained command of the US nation, and the consequences are ongoing.

[@timobrienwells]

I never said CO2 was the only factor involved in warming David,so who is the one spouting crap?There are many factors involved in determining the global temperature.As for H2O,it is THE greenhouse gas for the Earth,and CO2 is a very distant second.Mars is as cold as it is due mainly to it's distance from the sun,and also from it's very low atmospheric pressure.Got anything else to offer up?

[@Benjigga]

Gees I feel so bad for that kid in the audience front and center. I completely agree with Dr. McPherson's ideas, it's some heavy stuff. Kid's don't belong at an event like this. Get a babysitter and explain it to him as he gets older and more age appropriate.

[@SPEZIO27]

Most important scientific information for the human brain. !3,500 views in 24 months. What about Kim & Kate, hey?

[@gumpyflyale2542]

i mean he predicted a BOE in 3 years from now so he keeps making wrong predictions

[@gumpyflyale2542]

"but In any event I can't imagine we will have an artic ocean completely covered in ice year round by 2020" Guy McPherson December 2 2014.

[@judomagyar]

Economic collapse... Energy shortage.... Well, I filled up my tank today for $2.56/gallon

[@snowjoe43]

Excellent 👍.

[@briangain9836]

Thank you ….

[@andy-the-gardener]

i wish bbc would have the guts to do a series on tv about peak oil, and collapse. its only the most important political issue of all. but you NEVER here anything on the subject in spite of its complete scientific/economic/rational coherance. i dont think ive heard the words 'peak oil' on uk tv, which is ridiculous

[@G2thesecondpower]

An analogy: If I'm an alcoholic, and I go to the doctor for some tests, and s/he then tells me that I have cirrosis of the Liver and diabetes, and proceeds to tell me, "if you don't quit drinking your going to die," is the doctor being an "alarmist?" Or, is s/he just giving me the FACTS, based on my medical tests and his/her own professional training and experience? So: Quit drinking now and manage my chronic health problems, or keep drinking and die. IMO, that's where it's at, kids.

[@notfarfromgone1]

His information is utterly factual. But this is the human experience, to push limitations, make bad choices, self-deceive, whatever. We can be better than that, and for a lot of us, especially those who buy into sustainability and work at it everyday, it is the most realistic thing we can push for - hardly a myth. Consider what's more possible? Ending our current monetary system or see the potential flourishing that is possible through sustainability? Anyway, I'm glad you care. It means a lot.:)

[@andrewllewellyn1915]

Judging by most comments on this video, he's pretty spot-on about how many of us are likely to make it through the upcoming population bottleneck. Sure, space resources and 'hopium' might save you, you could take the word of some blowhard politician or radio personality instead of an educated man, but is it really worth gambling with your life and your children's lives? Better to be on the safe side, move to the country, live healthier. Even if the world doesn't tank, you're still better off.

[@eyemagistus]

Fizzy Math: Something I have been curious about ever since the concern over CO2 emissions into the atmosphere began was -- How much CO2 comes from the ubiquitous consumption of fizzy drinks? The fizz in fizzy drinks is CO2 escaping into the air. The corn syrup and sugars they contain are partly blamed for contributing to an epidemic of obesity. The acids and additives present various other health hazards when consumed in excess, but I never hear anything about the CO2. Is it enough to consid

[@infinityand0]

The study he cites by NCAR does not say we will be at 16C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. It says that CO2 will be at levels last seen 30 million ya. At that time, temps were 16 C higher. It's more of a cautionary tale than a pure quantification or prediction.

[@paulineprojectlove]

I want my mommy.....:(

[@lakecrab]

I could be a total Christian and say it's in Gods hands...but, we are stewing in our own trash. The open ended trash, junk, and garbage cycle must end.

[@G2thesecondpower]

It isn't the loss of Western Civilization that I'm concerned about. I've been poor most of my life. I'm concerned about homo sapiens ability to sustain itself on it's home planet--period. Sustainability and Transition are great and they give people a purpose so they don't lose hope, but what good are they if half or more of the world becomes uninhabitable for human life? A lot of people are going to die whether it ends in extinction or not.

[@GregoryJWalters]

Super!

[@CC-jy4gr]

It's over now no more problems in this world It's over now I'm at home chillin with my girl

[@peter8aus8berlin]

Less consumers less consumption => problem solved.

[@goose1077]

Individual resources are not the only means to prosperity. As copper got more and more expensive, we learned how to send information on wires made of sand.

[@stevebreedlove9760]

No. We learned how to use fossil fuels to turn sand into fiber optics. The fundamentals are the same. That's the point. The neoclassical myth of substitution can only go so far. There is no energetic replacement for fossil fuels and we are scraping the bottom of the barrel.

[@milnergregorye]

guy even in 2021 were still into big oil

[@notfarfromgone1]

"Extinct the entire life system of the planet?" What does that mean? The system of humans you rely on, too? There is no separation, nature is indifferent, and we, like most other things, have a shelf life. But Sustainability is a better platform for attenuation than fatalism - plus, fatalism just annoys people. Many work every day to drive sustainability, evolution, and social intelligence - calling this emergence a myth is just shock factor, IMO. :)

[@Changeworld408]

prozac was served at the end of the speech

[@darkdragonsoul99]

I'm perfectly fine with no money survival of the fittest or in terms of humans survival of the most willing Your average person is not willing to do the things to survive that certain people are.

[@goyavesETmangues]

. My grandma had about 10 or 12 children and only half of them survived til adulthood and my mother thanks science and technology for none of her children dying before 5. It is easy for a white western male to romantaicise such tragic ordeal when he has probably lived a very comfortable life in the richest country on earth. Natality in the west is actually decreasing thanks to education and birth control with population of Japan and Germany expected to shrink. So technology can offer solutions .

[@grindupBaker]

At 1:10:20 a kid & senior simply disappeared, classic example of fascist state disappearing people.

[@goose1077]

As I said elsewhere in this stream, our environment continues to get cleaner as we advance, not worse. There was a time when a river in Cleveland caught on fire. That could never happen today. Burning natural gas to heat homes is way cleaner than burning wood, coal, dung, grass or any of the other heat sources of the past. There are 1000s of ways in which the world gets cleaner as society advances. Just stand behind a a car from the 60s or a diesel truck from the 80s

[@Griddiho]

390 ppm? It’s 420 ppm now 🎉

[@bobosqueakers]

still confused, however, why then is "sustainability a myth"? because it's inevitable that we self-destruct? or our methods and policies of economies are antithetical to sustainability?

[@NoEcologyNoEconomy]

Honesty on the environment doesn't make for pleasant listening, and many people just pretend nothing's wrong, as long as they're making money and living in tidy neighborhoods. The GOP could care less about most of his points. Without a major increase in birth control and an eventual reduction in human numbers, the math doesn't bode well for sustainability.

[@notfarfromgone1]

I am alarmed, but what should we do? Call sustainability a myth like those who actively rail against the very notion? And too late? Too late for what? The best thing we can do is love and work toward what is possible, even if it seems impossible. And no one has certainty, so I'll go with my initial post. :)

[@gushutchinson8758]

You have the perfect right to change...in this case your timeline for the end I made it a decade from 2016 ...2026 ? correct? Now I hear mention of 2050. So this is a rather big time difference..considering the gravitas of the matter. Just checking I've got you ? Anyway...I'm with you ...but slightly more with john zerzan...whereas you picture an agrarian rebuilding..he (and I)believe only gatherer hunters and of course an intact ecosystem...if rewilded . We both want an anarchist arrangement. Somehow gatherer hunting is less prone to the emergence of a ruling elite. Domestication of species leads to the war on nature...and capital. The SAN peoples have some terrific means to stop the leaders in their tracks. They are fiercely egalitarian and freedom loving. They were de skilled in a generation after 250.000 years of fun and laughter without starvation slavery taxation conscription war or organised religion. They have many answers. Theirs is the most beautiful tragic story . Future Primitivism are the 2 words that draw us in .

[@milnergregorye]

this im writing,in 2021 and the demand for cell phones and lapTOPS REAL HIGHER THAN 2012 guy i wish it was still 2012

[@chrisruss9861]

This talk scares me witless.

[@mypetcrow9873]

Feedback loops: 72

[@richardscathouse]

And counting

[@timobrienwells]

Some plants David?How about ALL plants my friend!Photosynthesis is 6CO2+6H2O>..light..>C6H12O6+6O2.Studies done outdoors also confirm CO2 plant fertilisation.Read this carefully-CO2 is a LIMITING FACTOR in plant growth. A warmer earth will NOT see an increase in deserts and arid lands.A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture leading to increased precipitation.A warmer atmosphere MAY lead to changes in desertification only.Warmer times in human history have always produced higher crop yields

[@codyjones1098]

Read the comments, people in complete denial! They do not understand HOW they live at all!

[@gwales]

It's a shame he doesn't give a more accurate title to this talk - it's actually about the danger of climate change. Strange decision. His message is very important - why bury it with such a politically dry title.

[@paulineprojectlove]

This talk was given years ago when he thought there was time to save the planet. And "saving the planet" is kind of not "dry".

[@marietellez6021]

👀 See how F we are In Texas

[@stevebreedlove9760]

Before the freeze! Before the flood! Yeah TX is in bad shape. Same with CA.

[@timobrienwells]

The problem is your question,and it is you who does not understand the science.The physics of radiative transfer of CO2 has been understood for a long time-since Arrhenius did his work in the 1890's.Adding CO2 should produce some warming,how much we dont really know.The Stefan Boltzmann law suggests 1C for every doubling of CO2 in the atmosphere,but it is the possible feedbacks which are the unknown.The latest results less than 1.5C,and even the IPCC has recently lowered it's estimates

[@JazenValencia]

I couldn't find it. Whats it about?

[@Talltrees84]

Heads in sand and parts of their lower anatomy.

[@VictorOrblat]

You missed a key point about peak oil. It has to do with EROEI. At $200/barrel, the U.S. will be mining every crack and crevass on the continent. The problem is that no one will be able to afford it. That is basic economics. An upward sloping supply curve and the downward sloping demand.

[@Heavypsychoverdose]

population overshoot is a key to the problem...

[@justinebeaver1419]

People would probably take McPherson more seriously if he did something with that mop on his head.

[@MrAndrewUK]

That's because most people are dumb as zombies.

[@joaquinmisajr.1215]

Hey pls wake up from the pre-occupation with FORM

[@Stone2home]

"...this one little universe..." ???

[@nursingninja]

It's 2020, where does he see us now?

[@grindupBaker]

I died 18 months ago in September 2018 because not enough ice to keep me alive (that's likely why I feel so poorly, being dead and all). I'm not aware of your personal situation in a bunker (you being a psychopath and all). Are you presently dead or alive ?

[@Jc-ms5vv]

By 2026

[@nursingninja]

Always gotta move that goal post. Reminds me of the seventh day adventists. The end of the world was predicted to happen Oct 22 1844 and as soon as it didn't it's been right around the corner since then.

[@Jc-ms5vv]

@@nursingninja what was that prediction made on? Guys is based on abrupt climate change and species not being able to adapt fast enough

[@timobrienwells]

OK Mozart,I present mine and then it is your turn-agreed? CO2 is a limiting factor for plant growth.That is why green houses use 1000+ppm for their crops.100's of studies demonstrate this fact.And because plants use less water in higher CO2,it means the deserts will bloom-and indeed the Sahara is shrinking.Higher CO2 will green the planet.As for warming,it will open up large areas of Canada and Siberia,North Europe to agriculture.Warmer temps mean higher yields.[and more rainfall]

[@semosurvivalist]

Oil production hasn't fully peaked to date. We have outdone 1970 by far in recent years. Oil will not peak until it is becoming hard to find.

[@haroldhart2688]

THIS GUY IS TELLING IT LIKE IT IS - 2029 APOPHIS HITS THE EARTH

[@gumpyflyale2542]

"but In any event I can't imagine we will have an artic ocean completely covered in ice year round by 2020" Guy McPherson December 2 2014.

[@MrEttolruf]

stop blaming whites. blame the rich. theres a big difference

[@notfarfromgone1]

Then we press on further, as we've always done. Having worked all over the world, I perceive much of what we consider as loss in the western world as a bit hyperbolic, meaning we are so excessive to begin with. And considering this from a neurological point of view, with our built in "loss aversion" mindset, most seem to recoil from any alternative worldview they currently hold. I think sustainability is much like any other aspect of social/cultural/economic evolutionary process - forward. :)

[@sorrywrongplanet8873]

They’re saying 2 degrees by mid century and 3 degrees by end of the century now, at the start of 2022. It’s all bad news any way you look at it. I’ve noticed an increase in volcanic eruptions though and was wondering if that’s a kind of negative feedback since volcanic ash in the atmosphere cools the planet.

[@richardscathouse]

We passed the 2° mark in 1984 🤭🤭🤭

[@harrynac6017]

There's not more volcanic activity, there's only more attention for it.

[@b43xoit]

He may eventually have good points, maybe some very good points, but the start is laced with BS. E. g. he cites 2nd law thermo, but leaves out that the context of the Earth is this stream of radiation from the Sun. When people speak of designing for sustainability, they usually mean that for a time when that context will continue. Trying to survive past a major change of the Sun goes beyond the usual scope of the discussion.

[@G2thesecondpower]

I don't "appeal" to authority, however if someone with some authority presents me with evidence based on facts/research-- I'm not going to dismiss it out of hand either. And yes, I know who Thomas Malthus was, and I know what is means to call oneself a "Malthusian." But you are confusing presentation of evidence with a pronouncement of personal belief. If a doctor tells me I am going to die, it is based on his/her knowledge and training--it's then up to me to get a second or third opinion.

[@goyavesETmangues]

. . I thought he was quite intelligent until he started spilling Malthusian bs and preaching for obscurantism by claiming that technology in itself is a problem. He keeps talking about how hg and nomads were happy which leads me to think that he is under the delusion of the 'nobleh appy savage'. He is clearly anti-human if he thinks that high child morality is something to celebrate. You can be pro-environment and pro-human but the plaguing misanthropy among environmentalists ruins the cause . .

[@G2thesecondpower]

Are we debating about whether the information Guy presents is "factual" or are debating here what our 'attitude' should be about this information-- because I think those are two different "debates." Personally, I can't stand the monetary system, and I hope it dies anyway. I don't see how we're going to avoid a lot of suffering at this point, sustainability initiatives or not. Transition might still work well for those of us living in say, coastal B.C, but what about everyone else?

[@Zagg777]

Is there a "The sky is falling!" hobby horse that this guy does not ride?

[@worldpeace8299]

Zagg777 The sky is falling

[@Zagg777]

world peace Not around here it isn't. It's right up there where it's supposed to be.

[@rstevewarmorycom]

world peace The guy doesn't give many alternatives, he pretends like we either have to all die or all go back to living lives of quiet desperation that are hard, brutish and short, when that's simply not true. People living now may not LIKE the way they are going to have to live if we are to survive, only because they won't have the mindless luxury we have now, we'll have to think and keep track of everything, we'll have to THINK about everything we do. But he is not sufficiently discussing any of that, he is emphasizing horror because he thinks he needs to convince people with it, and it does the opposite, it makes them give up and feel helpless. We still have medical science, we still have public services that are human effort based,, we still have electronic technology, we still have rule of law and the ability to cooperate. He needs to be talking about how easy it can be to garden and grow much of your own food now that we know we don't need to till, and how to maintain the soil with permaculture. He needs to be talking about modifying our homes to be heated by the earth and the sun, and precisely how that can be done using homegrown methods, he needs to be talking about how only a few solar panels can meet our needs for electricity if we don't try to use it for stupid things it isn't intended for and we don't need to use it for, like brute force clothes washing and drying, heat, cooking, and massive lighting and wasteful refrigeration, when all these things can be reduced to a tenth of their present energy cost. He needs to be talking about the political changes required for all of us to know what our obligations to our community are, and how landowners need to be made to share with others that don't have land, how to tear down and rebuild neighborhoods to make room for close short-range living, with food growing right next to domiciles and small industries, how we need to garden everywhere and make criminal any interference with the community gardens or resources, and that we will no longer tolerate criminality of any kind. These are what he needs to discuss.

[@worldpeace8299]

rstevewarmorycom if we lack at all it is in matters spiritual - how many are aware how poor their expensive junk makes them?

[@rstevewarmorycom]

world peace I see the spiritual as a product of whether things are available to us, whether work is available from or near home, whether we have time to see our kids, whether we have to toil elsewhere for things we shouldn't even have to toil for so much. Today's mode of living robs anyone of the spirit to enjoy life. It makes slaves of honest humans and drags them around as if to distract them from ever making a squawk about it. It's not so much their junk as that it IS junk, junk that doesn't even work right and has to be replaced, instead of an item that lasts centuries and can be shared by dozens. Nothing wrong with expensive junk, as long as it works well and lasts. Consumption isn't the problem, it's that we are made to consume that which requires we consume it again and yet again, without reason.

[@richardscathouse]

The earth will improve only after we go away.👍💀

[@4aSteadyStateEconomy]

I think he must be talking about the world as a whole, not accounting for relative improvements in the U.S. and Europe. Otherwise his intro statement is misleading.

[@88roro11]

the supply chain of oil will fall apart first... b4 we physically "run out of oil"... but none the less enjoy the cheap energy while we can.. i guess... and or start prepin..

[@umvhu]

This lecturer needs to have a look at the historic record of CO2 levels

[@gumpyflyale2542]

well he said within 3 years a BOE and was wrong in 2012 than he pointed to a study of 2016 plus or minus 3 years and was wrong again now he is saying 2023 BOE cant wait for his excuse on that one

[@Jc-ms5vv]

Rate of change! Hence why we're in a mass extinction event and this is before we hit the abrupt stages

[@batlash1]

YES! agreed the economy is headed to a real crisis. But what happens after a financial collapse when we cannot afford to fix even small eco disasters? or a large local environmental crisis? Ever been to New Orleans? We could not afford to fix that city before a recession.