Several years ago I gave a presentation called “Geo Destinies in the Coming Age of Geo Scarcity.” It was, of course, inspired by the seminal research and writing about depletion of the petroleum and minerals geologist Walter Youngquist. At the outset of my talk, I extolled his landmark 1997 book Geodestinies: The Inevitable Control of Earth Resources Over Nations and Individuals. …
Continue ReadingYour gift helps publish and distribute materials like this. Click here for a downloadable, printable PDF version THE SINGULAR CENTURY There are major turning points in human history. Of special importance have been the transition from a hunter/gatherer existence to a settled agricultural economy, and the beginning of the Industrial Age which transition continues. These turning points have for …
Continue Reading
Your gift helps publish and distribute materials like this. Click here for a downloadable, printable PDF version THE SCALE OF THINGS AND DEMOGRAPHIC FATIGUE An NPG Forum Paper by Walter Youngquist The earth is straining under a demographic assault on a scale never before seen. The overwhelming scale of its problems comes from resource demands of continued population growth, the …
Continue Reading
During most of human history austerity has been the norm. Only recently have some segments of world population enjoyed an affluent life. But these are very unusual times, far from the norm. It now appears human history can be broken into three distinct eras. First, the long march from the millennia of the hunter-gatherer economy to the time of the beginning and then widespread use of fossil fuels and other nonrenewable resources….
Continue ReadingThe problem of immigration and supply of supporting Earth resources can be expressed simply in the fact that more people use more resources. The physical standard of living is…
Continue ReadingClick here for a downloadable, printable PDF version Walter Younquist is a veteran observer and commentator on world and U.S. resource and population trends, and the precarious balance between them. A frequent contributor to NPG publications, Youngquist draws on lengthy professional experience as a petroleum geologist which has taken him to over 70 countries. His title here, A Future of …
Continue ReadingFew people have as much sympathy as I do for the people of Haiti, especially for the children, for I saw their desperate plight years before the earthquake.
Continue Readingby Walter Youngquist The environment on which we depend consists of energy resources, and the biological and mineral resources of the Earth. It involves biological processes such as species competition and adaptation to a changing physical environment. It includes the physical processes, which go to shape the Earth’s surface, as well as modify both the surface and the interior of …
Continue Readingby Walter Youngquist During more than 500 million years, geological processes accumulated a rich bank account for us – oil. The “account” actually was set up as numerous accounts – some large, some small – in various parts of the world. In 1859, Col. E. L. Drake initiated the modern search with his now-famous well near Titusville, Pennsylvania. Soon the …
Continue ReadingMinerals Move People As resources are discovered or depleted, populations migrate An NPG Internet Forum Paper by Walter Youngquist Spring 2005 Along with the influence of mineral supply on the rise and progress of civilization, is a parallel story of how the search for, and discovery of minerals from salt to gold and silver has caused mass migrations of people. …
Continue Reading