John Bellamy Foster Over the last decade and a half, the concept of extractivism has emerged as a key element in our understanding of the planetary ecological crisis.
This month’s Review of the Month by John Bellamy Foster illuminates the idea of extractivism, a key concept in understanding our current planetary crisis.
John Bellamy Foster takes readers back to Marx's understanding of the dialectics of nature and society. As Marx and Engels noted, humanity must not only…
Crushed olivine was added to a core to mimic enhanced weathering, and water was continually dripped through for ~6 months. Our experiments were conducted at 4°C, and are compared to previously run identical experiments at 19°C. Olivine dissolution rates in both experiments start out similar, likely due to fines and sharp crystal corners. However, after >100 days of reaction, the dissolution rate at 4°C was two orders of magnitude lower than at 19°C. The accumulation of heavy metals, such as Ni and Cd, was low in both experiments, but soil retention of these elements was proportionally higher at higher temperatures, likely due to enhanced sorption and formation of clays. Overall, this study suggests that olivine dissolution rates in experiments that mimic natural settings are orders of magnitude slower than in normal laboratory experiments, and that enhanced weathering may be a considerably less efficient method of carbon dioxide removal at low climatic temperatur