[Zardoz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('coyote', 'A')re you sure this isn't Aaron having a bit of fun with us again?

[PraiseDoom]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('wahoodoggydoo', 'Y')ou doom-and-gloomers need to get a life! Yes, peak oil will happen; there is no doubt about it. But peak oil will NOT cause a cataclysmic crash of global society. ...

[Zardoz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PraiseDoom', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('wahoodoggydoo', 'Y')ou doom-and-gloomers need to get a life! Yes, peak oil will happen; there is no doubt about it. But peak oil will NOT cause a cataclysmic crash of global society. ...

[billp]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')ruth is, we're all just enjoying a bit of whimsy.

[MonteQuest]

Talk about me holding a newbie's feet to the fire with terse remarks.

Can you say homework?

[Judgie]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('wahoodoggydoo', 'Y')ou doom-and-gloomers need to get a life! Yes, peak oil will happen; there is no doubt about it. But peak oil will NOT cause a cataclysmic crash of global society. People act like the lights will go out when the oil wells dry up. Give me a break!

We are on the cusp of a revolutionary advance, not decline. Economics will force the wasteful to conserve, albeit the wasteful will go kicking and screaming. Our powerful talents for technology and innovation will result in a renewable energy revolution and remarkable increases in energy efficiency.

The Oil Age has pushed global population beyond what can be supported without oil UNDER OUR CURRENT SYSTEM. Humans aren't going to starve by the billions when the oil runs out. Humans will change the system. Humans will adapt to change, that's what we do!

When the Oil Age ends, we don't end. And we don't go back to horse-and-buggy either. We advance into the Solar Age. Look at the innovations that have been developed in the last century. Yes, our CO2 emissions grow exponentially, but our technology grows exponentially as well. We can overcome.

And I don't want to hear about how solar can replace only a fraction of our energy use. That's true in our current system, but not for the future. Besides, most of our energy consumption today is just waste anyway.

Someday human population will exceed what the Earth can support, but it will NOT happen because of peak oil. We are nearing a societal transition, not an end to society.

You doom-and-gloomers do play a useful role however. Somebody needs to give society a good wake-up call. A good dose of fear mongering just might get the job done...

[Mircea]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Albertabound', 'T')he worlds institutions are in a state of disintegration. National Problems can no longer be solved at the National level. (Look at the Price for gasoline no one can control it not even the oil majors).

[Chris25]

wahoodoggydoo


How the heck are solar panels going to help us make chemicals like ammounian nitrate to fertilze our fields? Without fertilizers people will starve!

Due to chemical fertilizers the land can produce 6 times as much food as before.

I'd love to see your world where everyone would be fine with 6 times less food in the world.

Then we forget about transportation, distrubution and processing... all dependant on oil.

Tell me how a few fancy solar panels are going to fix that?

[Battle_Scarred_Galactico]

Chris, I'm afraid it seems impossible for these fools to think more than one link in a chain, food comes from the supermarket.

[snowshoegal]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Zardoz', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('coyote', 'A')re you sure this isn't Aaron having a bit of fun with us again?

[Geko45]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Battle_Scarred_Galactico', 'C')hris, I'm afraid it seems impossible for these fools to think more than one link in a chain, food comes from the supermarket.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Geko45', ' ')The real problem is that they think food just grows out of the Earth without any significant inputs to the process. That whole "living off the fat of the land" myth.

[Geko45]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smallpoxgirl', 'I')t does. Just not in the amounts we are currently producing. Cut the population back by 100 fold and there will be plenty of food growing out of the earth on it's own. We've just put ourselves in a place very far removed from steady state.

[azreal60]

I see our friendly snowshoe gal is a web investigator. We should get her a job with the local gumshoe office.( not an insult, found the links interesting)

One of my friend's pulls crap like that all the time and scares the bejezus out of me with what she can find.

[snowshoegal]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('azreal60', 'I') see our friendly snowshoe gal is a web investigator. We should get her a job with the local gumshoe office.( not an insult, found the links interesting)

One of my friend's pulls crap like that all the time and scares the bejezus out of me with what she can find.

[EndOfGrowth]

Why is it that the thrust of members responses to questions asked by newbies is "we're screwed", "die-off", "crash", "zombies", "no hope" etc?

[Zardoz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EndOfGrowth', 'W')hy is it that the thrust of members responses to questions asked by newbies is "we're screwed", "die-off", "crash", "zombies", "no hope" etc?

[Bas]

GM foods could go a long way in the future.

Either way the coming decades look bleak for humanity, after that, I don't think anyone can predict what will happen; there are simply too many factors involved. It's not unthinkable to me that by that time humanity will have found some new ways to deal with food and energy supply, though we will never have the amount of luxuries so widely available today. Total Doom is also possible, like it is always.

In the end though, any speculation about the future is just that; speculation. And that is sometimes easily forgotton when you read, write and reason so much about the implications of peak oil; it's speculation; nothing scientific about it. The only fact that more or less has been proven "scientifically" is the fact that oil production has peaked and that humanity, or more so, the economy, is highly dependent on the stuff.