2030 Spike

<p>The clock is relentlessly ticking! <br>Our world teeters on a knife-edge between a peaceful and prosperous future for all, and a dark winter of death and destruction that threatens to smother the light of civilization. <br>Within 30 years, in the 2030 decade, six powerful 'drivers' will converge with unprecedented force in a statistical spike that could tear humanity apart and plunge the world into a new Dark Age. Depleted fuel supplies, massive population growth, poverty, global climate change, famine, growing water shortages and international lawlessness are on a crash course with potentially catastrophic consequences. <br>In the face of both doomsaying and denial over the state of our world, Colin Mason cuts through the rhetoric and reams of conflicting data to muster the evidence to illustrate a broad picture of the world as it is, and our possible futures. Ultimately his message is clear; we must act decisively, collectively and immediately to alter the trajectory of humanity away from catastrophe. <br>Offering over 100 priorities for immediate action, The 2030 Spike serves as a guidebook for humanity through the treacherous minefields and wastelands ahead to a bright, peaceful and prosperous future in which all humans have the opportunity to thrive and build a better civilization. <br>This book is powerful and essential reading for all people concerned with the future of humanity and planet earth.</p> Part One: Crises Mode - The Drivers * Running out of Fuel: The Coming Energy Crunch * Population and Poverty * Climate: Too Hot or Too Cold? * Famines: Food and Water * One World? * The Fourth Horsemen * Part Two: Direction * Which Way Science? * In the Genes: New Plants - and People? * The Values of the Sea * Multinationals: Good Business or Bad? * The Trouble with Money * Part Three: Upgrading the Individual - The Pursuit of Happiness * Love, Family and Freedom * Habitat: The Dilemma of the Cities * Making Education Work * Health and Wealth * Religion: The Cement of Society * Part Four: The New Society? * The Mechanics of Change * Automation and Employment * Travelling Less? * Working Online * The Information Overload * The Toxic Culture * Running the Show * Conclusions: World to Come * Notes * Index