Grand Transitions: How the Modern World Was Made
1776 patent had expired did it become possible to develop new high-pressure designs suitable for mobile applications
Vaclav Smil • Grand Transitions: How the Modern World Was Made
as well as the shift of crop production from food to animal feed.
Vaclav Smil • Grand Transitions: How the Modern World Was Made
Plastic films also release phthalates (common plasticizers) whose levels in Chinese soils are now usually at the high end of the global range, and are mostly higher than allowable concentrations (Lü et al. 2018; Li et al. 2016). In China about 20% of arable land is already contaminated with different kinds of toxins whose concentrations exceed
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life expectancy is predicated on the combination of good health care, good nutrition, and good living conditions,
Vaclav Smil • Grand Transitions: How the Modern World Was Made
Average fertilities of 7 to 8 children per lifetime should be thus taken as representative maxima for entire populations,
Vaclav Smil • Grand Transitions: How the Modern World Was Made
The most practical step to make this situation less onerous would be to raise the retirement age to 69 and thus bring the number of economically active people closer to 2 people per retiree.
Vaclav Smil • Grand Transitions: How the Modern World Was Made
Longevity is an outcome of complex interactions that include economic, nutritional, and health care variables,
Vaclav Smil • Grand Transitions: How the Modern World Was Made
that dietary and behavioral intervention (reducing intake of total energy and sweetened drinks in particular, exercising more) in individuals with prediabetes can reduce the disease’s onset by 30–60%