Categories
Ecology

What apocalypse is coming?

(Published in 2020 with additions until 2024) The world-famous icon of the green movement, Greta Khunberg, gave a highly emotional speech to the UN in September 2019, in which she called for an immediate rethink and swift action to avert the catastrophes threatened by our reckless use of natural resources. The focus was on the controversial [...]

Categories
Ecology

How much we overload our earth

Published in Grail World 64/2011 In Grail World, we have already reported on various approaches to calculating the Earth's carrying capacity: "How much humanity can the Earth take?"; "Why we are stumbling into the population trap"; "A devastating footprint" (all under "Ecology"). Regardless of which of the not uncontroversial calculation methods is used as a basis, the results invariably tend to be [...]

Categories
Ecology

The diesel dilemma

(Status 2018) When Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913) submitted his fundamental patent on February 22nd, 1893, his goal was an internal combustion engine with optimal efficiency that should come as close as possible to the theoretical ideal (the Carnot process). The first prototype ran at Maschinenfabrik Augsburg (later MAN) in 1893, and after many improvements, the first practical model came in 1897. Now [...]

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Ecology

Are the "apocalyptic" horsemen coming?

(Published in GralsWelt 73/2012) For decades we have been hearing the warnings that our world economy can no longer continue to rely on further material growth as before; that politicians must finally start to think far-sightedly and globally; and above all that we humans must change our consciousness, our attitude towards nature and our behavior patterns. Now you can already hear [...]

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Ecology

Goodbye plow?

(Published in GralsWelt 71/2012) There is virtually nothing that is not questioned in our time. This also applies to an agricultural implement that has been the emblem of the peasantry for thousands of years and, moreover, is still a symbol of peace: the plow. Thus the Bible says, "Then they forge plowshares from their swords." [...]

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Ecology

Early warnings of humus degradation and soil loss.

Published in Grail World 54/2009. For centuries, it was not recognized that uprisings, revolutions, wars, colonialism and emigration were exacerbated or even triggered by the impoverishment of excessively used arable land, whose yields decline. Justus v. Liebig (1803 - 1873) provided the first important insight into soil fertility with his discovery of the nutrient cycle of plants. This made it possible to replace missing nutrients such as [...]

Categories
Ecology

How many slaves do you have working for you?

Published in GralsWelt 48/2008 Machines have increased human performance to the unbelievable - around 55 “energy slaves” are currently working non-stop for each of us. And the hunger for energy continues to grow, at the expense of the environment. What options do we have if we do not want to overload the earth's ecosystem any further? Before the "iron angels" came ... In the 19th and 20th [...]

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Ecology

The battle for the blue elixir of life

Published in GrailWorld 51/2008 Is food becoming scarce? In April 2008, the government of Haiti, one of the poorest countries in Central America and the Caribbean, was forced to resign by a large demonstration of the population that almost turned into a popular uprising. The reason for these protests was a sharp rise in food prices. One reporter went so far as to say that these price increases for [...]

Categories
Ecology

Where are the bees

Published in GralsWelt 52/2008 Last summer we noticed that there were fewer bees than usual in our garden. Now, this is an individual observation that can have many answers. But what was it like for you? Have you made similar observations, as have some of my friends? To get to the bottom of it, [...]

Categories
Ecology

A devastating footprint

Mankind has long been demanding more from the earth than its ecosystems can cope with (Published in GralsWelt 44/2007) With the GrailWelt issue 43 under the heading “How many people can the earth tolerate?” (Here under “Ecology), we always have often repressed problem addressed: the carrying capacity of the earth. In view of the dramatic climate change, this topic remains highly topical. [...]