Global Warming, Peak Oil, and the Long Emergency

The 21st century finds the world facing what some have called a "perfect storm" of oncoming challenges. Without most of us realizing it, that storm is already underway, and is touching us already. The site PlanetThoughts.org was created recently to help raise awareness and understanding of the issues, which include more than "just" global warming.

What is that perfect storm? The primary aspects are:

• Dwindling supplies of relatively clean and accessible carbon-based fuels (oil and gas), likely to become more visible in the form of shortages in the next 5 to 20 years. No one is sure when these sources will start to run out, but it is inevitable.


• Marked trends related to global warming, changing weather patterns, and rising ocean levels. The hard science is in, and some dramatic changes are already underway, most visible in the Arctic and Antarctic regions.


• Depletion of food and other natural resources, such as ocean fish stocks, topsoil, and declining diversity of species. Predictions of total collapse of commercial fishing in the ocean by 2040 have been made; I feel it will be far sooner unless strong international regulation comes into effect.


• Inflaming of world-wide terrorism and of conflicts in sensitive areas, much of it traceable back to poverty and the decline of local resources. Often, a combination of fundamentalist religion and economic ambition leads to wars.


• Risk of global pandemic disease initiated in areas stressed through drought, flooding, and overpopulation. SARS and bird flu originated in Asia in large part due to overcrowding and poor farm hygiene

There is debate regarding how quickly the global climate will change, and how much. There is also debate about how much oil and gas remains, as well as the usability of non-renewable and renewable replacements. If action takes place world-wide in a timely manner, it may be possible to lessen the effects of these crises, although scientists now feel that it is too late to entirely avoid the crisis of global warming, while peak oil is often given scant attention despite its equally critical nature.

Our best hope over time is that a world-wide community will emerge to engage with the key ideas relating to the incredible gift that is our planet, and how to preserve it and enable a bright future.