Like it or not, we are running an uncontrolled experiment on the only home we have. Never before have we had this many people on the planet consuming as much of the world’s resources as we do today. What is the impact and the consequences of these actions to the planet? To all the plants, animals and us?

These impacts and consequences are about to arrive. The economic system we have created is designed to encourage a buy now, pay later mentality which today has resulted in many countries and individuals deep in debt, some with little foreseeable means of paying it back. This bubble is sure to burst and ripple throughout the global economy. This could potentially occur by itself, but when peak oil soon arrives it will either trigger or compound the financial woes. We all know that the world is finite and there are limited resources. The first real sign of humanity hitting these limits will be when global oil production rates peak, then decline in a phenomenon know as peak oil. This is very bad news for a world whose growth and infrastructure is largely dependent on this cheap liquid fuel.

But the real problem we have chosen to ignore is that of rising carbon dioxide levels which is warming the planet and resulting in climate destabilisation. Human civilisation has developed over the last several thousand years during a period climatic calm, how will the food chain, with us at the top, adapt to a rapidly changing climate? If the disappearance of a large percentage of the Arctic is a guide, what else is in store for us?

One of the few positives is that the notion of “growth” and how we generate our energy are central to these three dilemmas. If we can change the rulebook and the energy source of our economies, and quickly, we have a chance of averting many of the consequences. It will require the political will similar to that of World War II, but it can be done. One way or the other, sometime within this next decade we are going start to see some extraordinary changes.