collapse Archives

Tag: collapse

A flag from the Extinction Rebellion Protest in Wellington

Doom or denial: Is there another path?

By Richard Heinberg, Resilience.org

My conclusion, after years of studying environmental research literature, is that some form of societal collapse is indeed highly probable this century, depending on how we define “collapse.” ... Collapse needn’t imply that nearly everybody dies at once, or that the survivors become wandering cannibals. Rather, it means our current institutions will fail to one degree or another and we will have to find alternative ways to meet basic human needs—ways that are slower, smaller in scale, and more local.

Cracks in the supply chain: Is metastable turning into unstable?

By Kurt Cobb, Resource Insights

What we are witnessing as a result of this pandemic is a widespread challenge to metastable systems upon which our societies depend. The most obvious are those related to hospitals and health care products. We often read in the news that hospitals are near "the breaking point" as if the hospital walls will burst when too many patients crowd into the building.

Ecofeminism to Escape Collapse

By Margarita Mediavilla, Resilience.org

From my point of view --which comes from systems dynamics and environmentalism rather than from feminism-- one of the tools that can best help feminist economics articulate a coherent discourse is the pattern of collapse.

Cars rest on the collapsed portion of I-35W Mississippi River bridge, after the August 1st, 2007 collapse.

Deep adaptation, post-sustainability and the possibility of societal collapse

By Kurt Cobb, Resource Insights

A new paper by a long-time sustainability academic and consultant says that minor tweaks in our current system won't help us. We are likely headed for societal collapse and need a radical new way of thinking about the future. The first necessary casualty is hope--hope that we can keep things largely the way they are.