On the March episode of Nature Bats Last Kevin and Guy were joined by George Tsakraklides. We discussed George’s recent work at Tsakraklides.com , including the collapse of industrial civilization and George’s recently published book “Disposable Earth: How and why we gave the earth an expiration date”.
The interview is embedded here:
“Whatever the reason for extinction, it always has to do with an environmental parameter that has changed, costing certain species their competitive advantage. But as extinction shocks reverberate up and down the food chain, nature always finds ingenious ways to recalibrate the system, achieving a new delicate balance each time between predator and prey. Any life form that disrespects this balance, wanting more for itself, eventually meets its match. Invasive species, super-multipliers, even most viruses, all have an achiles heel: their strength is actually their biggest weakness. The more parasitic a species is on an ecosystem, the more dependent it is on it, and the more sensitive it becomes to environmental perturbations. Behind their tough exterior, predators hide a fragile nature. They can become extinct almost as easily as their victims.” Collapse Means Collapse
I mentioned in the interview the loss of 20% of Australia’s forests that have burned already this fire season;‘Unprecedented’ globally: more than 20% of Australia’s forests burnt in bushfires.
Former guest on the show Mimi German called in and asked George for his opinion of this article written by Professor Guy McPherson titled: Extinction Foretold, Extinction Ignored
Photo credit: 6th Mass Extinction woodcut print by Nat Morley (2019)
I'm an anti-imperialist, environmental activist and blue ocean sailor, who is passionate about the earth and all it's inhabitants without favour. Brace for imminent impact as we bare witness to the non-linear unraveling of the biosphere and habitability disappearing for most if not all complex life on the only habitable planet we know of. To quote President Niinistö in North Russia: ‘If We Lose the Arctic, We Lose the World’. Folks we have lost the Arctic.
Kevin Hester 
When we humans awake to reality, it will be too late to save ourselves.
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The last caller prompts me to ask:
Would a few surviving remnants of humanity in the aftermath of a collapse be so different from people living now?
I believe the answer is no. Those survivors would do as any animal would, and attempt to occupy the habitat that was left for them. Their behavior – our behavior – would remain the same. Tsakraklides uses the metaphor of a book whose pages have been torn away, but given human behavior, we don’t need the book. We are who we are, regardless of our culture, or history. The author of that book is evolution.
It may be comforting to imagine that human survivors would be wiser, having “learned a lesson” the hard way, but I doubt that wisdom would last for long. Near extinction of humans would put an end to business as usual, but as soon as circumstances allowed for it, we’d be back at it.
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Tim Bob adds his imagery and some brilliant music from our caller Mimi German to excerpts of the March episode of NBL. How’s that for doing his homework.
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Farewell Humans, again from George;
https://tsakraklides.com/2020/04/25/farewell-humans/?fbclid=IwAR104Tgm5UtNHRJ6Di0I03ep7j3gX5OjLXv3fWq1STRmllYowbAfkPikcsk
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“King wrote: “The ‘comfort cult’, as Amalrik called it – the tendency in seemingly stable societies to believe “that ‘reason will prevail’ and that ‘everything will be all right'” – is seductive. As a result, when a terminal crisis comes, it is likely to be unexpected, confusing, and catastrophic,”
In Hemingway’s 1926 novel “The Sun Also Rises” Bill asked
“How did you go bankrupt?” .
“Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”
This is exactly how civilisations collapse, slowly and then suddenly. The cognitive dissonance around not seeing the obvious signs is amazing.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6827090/we-are-witnessing-the-fall-of-a-great-power/?fbclid=IwAR1wKHRu5Tm_Fx40bzE64kaJTuIGUoKOM3JHDG6LL8QhWqY71iEMn8BBZiI#gsc.tab=0
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Imagine;
https://tsakraklides.com/2021/10/18/what-would-a-total-collapse-look-like/?fbclid=IwAR0aazYeVU94AwTR26_KfXDdR5YjwPCdHMRAF73RdiYTYL8KeXI0ORnNuLk
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[…] “Collapse Means Collapse” kevinhester.live/2020/03/05/collapse-means-collapse/?fbcl… […]
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The incomparable Donella Meadows from 1977
We were warned
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Georges’ latest interview on Radio Ecoshock.
All lifted from the Facebook page
This week on Radio Ecoshock—https://soundcloud.com/…/spectacle-necrocapitalism-methane
—Welcome to a wild ride into “Necrocapitalism” – cutting observations by Greek scientist and author George Tsakraklides.
—Then more worrying news about methane: frozen under the deep sea around every continent, methane can melt, migrate and release closer to shore. We talk through this new discovery from Petroleum Geologist and Pro-Vice Chancellor of Newcastle University Richard Davies.
—It all wraps up with my short-take on French Situationalist Guy Debord and “Society of the Spectacle”. You are living in it.
Listen on Soundcloud — https://soundcloud.com/…/spectacle-necrocapitalism-methane
…or via the Radio Ecoshock website — https://www.ecoshock.org/…/spectacle-necrocapitalism…
…where there is never a sign-up, just lots of climate science, news, & insights. Plus show notes, reading suggestions, links, past shows, and more.
If you find this information helpful, please feel free to share the show with your friends. Thank you for listening and for caring about our world.
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This popped up because…collapse means collapse. Trump “loves the poorly educated and, at this point, they’re questioning how there could be all this cold if the planet is radically heating up…therefore it’s all a commie plot. Yes, these idiots are still calling people commies…but then so are their elected representatives in Congress.
Today, under a clear blue beautiful sky with a blazing sun beaming right down on my hands on this keyboard at 2pm, the thermometer mercury is dead on 0’F/-18’C. And I’m heading out to do some chores, then come in to warm up, then head back out etc until dark.
Arctic freeze continues to blast huge swaths of the US with sub-zero temperatures
https://apnews.com/article/winter-weather-snow-freezing-low-temperatures-3045d64292734d44e70ddba6da573df3?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us
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sealintheSelkirks
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Read a couple of comments…yep, it sure ain’t looking good. But we know the answer to this question now don’t we?
A PBS Terra report:
Has Earth Already Crossed MAJOR Tipping Points? | Full Episode | Weathered: Earth’s Extremes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEH9nX5sudk
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It’s probably worse than this and happening far quicker.
sealintheSelkirks
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Same with here. Logging trucks are everywhere and the hills are looking butchered…
Deforestation ‘roaring back’ despite 140-country vow to end destruction
Demand for beef, soy, palm oil and nickel hindering efforts to halt demolition by 2030, global report finds
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/08/deforestation-destruction-demolition-beef-soy-palm-oil-nickel
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sealintheSelkirks
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In the first paragraph it says: “these extremes could threaten life on Earth.” And to the right side of the page there is another article that states:
“‘We Are Reaching Points of No Return’: WWF Report Finds Wildlife Has Declined 73% in Half a Century”
Seems to me that they should have found a much more appropriate word for ‘could,’ ya know?
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25 of 35 Vital Signs for Earth Have Reached Record Extremes, Scientists Warn
https://www.ecowatch.com/earth-vital-signs-tipping-points-science.html
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sealintheSelkirks
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[…] How and why we gave the earth an expiration date”.Our interview is embedded following: “Collapse Means Collapse”Any blog post on collapse has to include the seminal work of Joseph Tainter: The Myth of Human […]
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It’s cool to hear Bill Rees mention George’s work but he can’t wrap his head around the rapidity of the collapse.
One moment he says it’s a predicament, then a problem.
He’s a real paradox.
The 10-Minute Brain has its 10 minutes – George Tsakraklides
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Trump’s tariff war against Canada has caused US gas prices to rise 75 cents in less than three months, at least up here next to the border, but Canada is increasing their subsidies to their fossil fuel industry so they don’t seem to care much, either.
Nobody seems to pay any attention to what the scientists have been saying, you notice?
Canada Fossil Fuel Subsidies Hit $30 Billion Amid Pipeline Push, Study Reveals
Experts note that government funding goes to Big Oil shareholders and executives while Canadian taxpayers bear the brunt of living with climate change.
https://www.desmog.com/2025/04/09/canada-fossil-fuel-subsidies-hit-30-billion-amid-pipeline-push-study-reveals/
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I can’t wait to see the billows of coal smoke blanketing the cites downwind of the coal plants. I guess they’ll have to start up a bunch of the closed-down ones, or rebuild them if torn down. Open the mines back up, blow off a few more mountaintops and fill the canyons and valleys of Appalachia full of poisonous rubble like they’ve already done.
This insanity is about to become much worse.
sealintheSelkirks
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George knocks it out of the park, yet again. His literary style and integrity confronting this nightmare shines brightly, we all need to form a tribe.
Delusion Is The Ultimate Renewable Energy Source
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