Three months later, Florence restarts. But not quite
The epidemic is almost over in Italy. After almost three painful months of lockdown and the loss of about 30.000 lives, the daily number of victims of the coronavirus is…
Ugo Bardi
Coronavirus: Why aren’t the Italians singing anymore?
At the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic, a few weeks ago, Italians seemed to have found a moment of national unity when the country’s lockdown began March 9. Everyone understood…
Collapse: The Coronavirus is not a Cause, it is a Trigger
Do you remember the story of the straw that broke the camel’s back? It is an illustration of how overloaded systems are sensitive to small perturbations. Could the COVID-19 epidemic…
Coronavirus: What’s Happening?
The most recent data indicate a decrease in the number of coronavirus infections in Italy. That means we could get out of the epidemic in the coming months. But why…
The Politics of the Coronavirus: A Lesson from Italy on how to Deal with Emergencies
There was a moment, a few weeks ago, when I was scared. Truly scared. The Italian Right had started mounting a hate campaign that exploited the coronavirus threat. The gist…
The Earth Sign: Greeting Each Other in the Age of the Coronavirus
In these rapidly changing times, we need to change our behavior in many ways My students doing the "Earth sign" or the "Gaia Sign" while floating in space. It is…
Climate Change: A Concise Assessment of What we are Risking
The failure of the Madrid climate negotiations, the Cop25, was not really unexpected. Even today, very few people, be they politicians or citizens, understand the risks of what's happening, and…
The Effect of the Sanctions: Is Iran Cracking Down Under the Strain?
In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia, at that time the only remaining free African country. Why exactly that happened is a long story. Let me just say that, in part, it…
Report From Iran: The Country Moves Onward
Iran is a country that maintains something of the fascination it had in ancient times, when it was both fabulous and remote. In our times, it remained somewhat remote, but…
The Public Interest in Climate Change Reaches an All-Time High. It is the Effect of Greta Thunberg
A little more than one year ago, I wrote a post titled "Why, in a Few Years, Nobody Will be Talking About Climate Change Anymore." It turned out that I…
Notes on Gaian Theology: Is the Goddess a Superorganism?
The beauty of the Gaian theology is that, unlike for ordinary theology, you don't have to rely only on second-hand reports about the subject of your studies. Gaia exists, and you…
Europe, Europe! The Dream Doesn’t Die
There was a time, long ago, when the term "Europe" was a vague definition for the lands north of the Mediterranean Sea, a vast regions of fog and swamps, inhabited…
When the Going gets Tough, Women get Going. “MIddle Ages 2.0” and the Great Transformation Awaiting us
In Europe, Greta Thunberg has smashed all the memetic barriers succeeding in doing what nobody else had succeeded before: bringing the climate emergency within the horizon of the public and…
What can we Learn About Collapse From the Middle Ages? The Great Challenge of the Seneca Bottleneck
The idea that a collapse is awaiting our civilization seems to be gaining ground, although it has not reached the mainstream debate. But no civilization before ours escaped collapse, so…
Winning the War of Climate Communication. Is Greta Thunberg the Memetic Weapon we Needed?
Who speaks on behalf of young people about climate? Greta Thunberg does. She is the embodiment of the concept that what matters in communication is not the message but the…
What’s Emperor Trump Doing? He is Busy at Splitting the Empire in Two
Flavius Theodosius Augustus "The Great" (347- 395 CE) was the last emperor to rule over the whole Roman Empire. His success was probably due in large part to his habit…
The Biodiesel Disaster: Why bad Ideas are Always so Successful?
Sometimes it happens that you are asked a question that forces you to reflect. So, a few days ago, I was at a public meeting on energy and climate and…
“Energy Dominance,” what does it mean? Decoding a Fashionable Slogan
"Now, I know for a fact that American energy dominance is within our grasp as a nation.” Ryan Zinke, U.S. Secretary of the Interior (source) "All Warfare is Based on…
Peak Diesel or no Peak Diesel? The Debate is Ongoing
In a recent post, Antonio Turiel proposed that the global peak of diesel fuel production was reached three years ago, in 2018. Turiel's idea is especially interesting since it takes…
Why is it so Easy to Lie to Us? The Case of Russia and Climategate
Our media feed us routinely with lies and the story of the involvement of the Russian Secret Service with the Climategate hack is just one of them. I thought it…
Peak Oil, 20 Years Later: Failed Prediction or Useful Insight?
20 years ago, Colin Campbell and Jean Laherrere published an article on "Scientific American" that was to start the second cycle of interest on oil depletion (the first had been started by…
Why Economists Can’t Understand Complex Systems: The case of William Nordhaus, Nobel Prize in Economics
After having been awarded the Nobel prize in economics of this year, William Nordhaus has been often presented as some sort of an ecologist (see, e.g. this article on Forbes). Surely,…
Could Donald Trump be the Last World Emperor? States and Empires After the End of the Fossil Age
A warlord named Sargon of Akkad was perhaps the first man in history to rule a true empire, around mid 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamia. Before him, humans had been…
Did the Club of Rome Ever Disavow “The Limits to Growth”? A Story of Ordinary Disinformation
The Club of Rome is inextricably linked to the legendary report that it commissioned to a group of MIT researchers in 1972, "The Limits to Growth." Today, nearly 50 years…
Plastic Pollution: The Age of Unsolvable Problems
How bad is the situation with plastic pollution? Rather bad, by all means. Citing from a recent paper by Geyer et al., more than 8 billion tons of plastic have been produced…
How the World Elites are Going to Betray us: Lessons from Roman History
The more I study the story of the Roman Empire, the more I see the similarities with our world. Of course, history doesn't always repeat itself, but it is impressive…
A Seneca Collapse for the World’s Human Population?
This is a condensed and modified version of a paper of mine that appeared on "The Journal of Population and Sustainability" this year. The image above is the well…
The Queen and the Philosopher: what we can learn today from the story of Boudica’s rebellion against the Roman Empire
We know very little about Queen Boudica of the Iceni (20 AD (?) - 61 AD) and most of what we know is probably deformed by Roman propaganda. But we may…
Overpopulation Problem? What Overpopulation Problem?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke6UoG8WKU0 I keep reading more and more comments about overpopulation on the social media. It is not just an impression: the trend of increasing interest in population matters is visible…
The Betrayal of a Nation. How the Kiribati People Will be Left to Drown
Anote's Ark is a beautiful movie that follows the fight of Kiribati's president, Anote's Tong, on behalf of his people, trying to save them from the rising sea. The movie…
Trump Takes Italy by Storm: the Rise of Matteo Salvini and of the Italian Right
During the past few weeks, we have seen a true political revolution in Italy. Matteo Salvini, leader of the Italian League, has successfully exploited his new position of Minister of…
The Time of the Great Slaughter: the Seneca Cliff of Rabbit Island
Little rabbits, little rabbits, come to me and hear this story. I can tell it to you because I am the oldest rabbit of all the island and I have…
Five Things You Should Know About Collapse
The Roman philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca was perhaps the first in history to identify and discuss collapse and to note that "the way to ruin is rapid." From Seneca's idea,…
The road to the Seneca Cliff is paved with evil intentions. How to destroy the world’s forests
The oldest stories of human lore have to do with cutting trees and with the disasters that followed as a consequence. Above, Legendary Sumerian heroes Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the guardian of…
Saving the World: Top-Down or Bottom-Up? A Review of the Latest Report to the Club of Rome, “Come On”
Nearly half a century has passed since the publication, in 1972, of the first – and still the most famous – report of the Club of Rome, “The Limits to…
How Big a Disaster Can Climate Change Be?
Above, you can see an image from the paper by Marsicek et al., just appeared on Nature. It shows a reconstruction from pollen records of the temperatures of the past 10,000…
Epistemology of Earthsea: Is The Universe A Machine?
I propose here a modified version of a post that I published last year on "Chimeras". I argue here that all our troubles are epistemological in nature: we don't know…
Are You Ready For A New Round Of Mass Exterminations?
In this sobering exclusive analysis for INSURGE, Professor Ugo Bardi dissects historical statistics on war to unpick the patterns of violence of the past and uncover what this says about the present…
Is Climate Science Denial Going Through A Seneca Cliff?
Sometimes I think about how difficult it must be to be a climate science denier. I have been studying climate science for years and I can tell you that it…
What Fuels Civil War? Energy And The Rise Of Fascism
History, as we all know, may not repeat itself, but it surely rhymes. So, the theme of a civil war and of a return of Fascism is much discussed in…
Which EROI Do We Need To Collect Berries?
The question of EROI - the energy return on energy invested - is raging nowadays, with some people insisting that a civilization cannot exist without an EROI of at least variously…
Our Photovoltaic Future: The Metabolic Revolutions of the Earth’s History
Illustration from the recent paper by Olivia Judson on "Nature Ecology & Evolution (2017) "The Energy Expansions of Evolution". Olivia Judson published a very interesting paper this March on "Nature Ecology & Evolution".…
Mining The Asteroids: How Desperate Can We Become?
It seems that, when we are in trouble, we tend to revert to our childhood memories, seen as happy times that, somehow, could return. That may explain why President Trump…
When Governments Operate In “Cheating Mode”: Italy During WWII
How you react to a threat depends on how serious you consider it. Small or moderate threats don't deserve a strong reaction, while extreme, "existential" threats generate emergency measures. In…
What Can Governments Hide From Us? Lessons From WWII
Governments are not known to be benevolent organizations. On the contrary, when it is question of ensuring their own survival, they are ruthless. And they are well known to lie…
Climate, Fossil Fuels, Resources And All That
This interview was recorded this February and is reported here from the site of the European Project MEDEAS, only minimally edited. Take into account that none of the people involved (interviewers…
“Peak Hats.” Social Change And The Coming Demise of Private Cars
For a long time, hats were oversized and expensive status symbols more than tools for protecting people's heads. During the past half century or so, they have nearly disappeared. A…
Make The Anthill Great Again! The Ant Colony And The Human Ones
Image above: the 1998 movie "AntZ". This post was inspired by a post by Antonio Turiel titled "Of Ants and Men" where he used the example of an ant to…
The Apple And The Ant
Antonio Turiel keeps what I think is one of the best blogs in the world (perhaps the best) dedicated to energy and fossil fuels: The Oil Crash. Too bad that, despite…
Go Electric, Young Man! The Story of the Electric Fiat “500”
Some ten years ago, myself and my friend Pietro Cambi had the weird idea of "retrofitting" Pietro's old Fiat 500, turning it into an electric car. To understand why we…
Crimea: From World War 0 To World War III
Today, we remember little about what we call the Crimean war (1853-1856), even though it was the largest war ever fought in history up to that moment. It prefigured many…
Why EROEI Matters: The Role Of Net Energy In The Survival Of Civilization
A lively debate is ongoing on what should be the minimum energy return for energy invested (EROEI) in order to sustain a civilization. Clearly, one always wants the best returns…
MEDEAS: The Next Step After The Paris Climate Agreement
Let me start with something to dispel the confusion about what models are for. When you deal with complex, adaptive systems, models are NOT meant to predict the future. As…
Checkmated OnThe “Climate Pause”: The Mistakes Scientists Make
David Rose popularized the concept of the "pause" in global warming in a 2012 article on the Daily Mail. There never was such a thing, but it became a highly…
Trump: The Defeat Of Science
Defeats are supposed to teach people how to do better; in theory. In practice, it often happens that defeats teach people how to become masters in blame-shifting. With some exceptions,…
Amelie The Amoeba: How Things Grow
This academic year, I gave a lesson on the growth mechanism of complex systems. It is a fascinating subject that can be applied to several fields, from biology to economics.…
Carbon Capture Finally Cracked? Why You Can’t Fight Climate Change With Coke or Pepsi
Some time ago, I found myself trying to explain to a journalist why I opposed CO2 mining in Tuscany. I said something like, "it makes no sense that the regional…
Bringing Back Science Into The Fold Of Humanism
Yesterday, I was invited to give a talk at a public meeting on the usual themes: climate change, resources, pollution, and the like. This time, a question I received from…
The Trump Effect: Is Climate Change Denialism On The Rise?
The results of a search for "climate hoax" on Google Trends Google Trends shows a remarkable spike in the interest for the coupled terms "climate" and "hoax". Does that…
John Glenn (1921-2016): The End Of An Era
John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth, in 1962. It was the start of the adventure that led to the lunar landing in 1969; only seven years…
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