Overshoot

Planet in Peril starts on CNN tonight

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Beginning tonight at 9 p.m. ET/PT, CNN will air a two-part documentary that takes viewers to the front lines of environmental change. It focuses on four main issues: climate change, deforestation, species loss, and overpopulation. The four-hour documentary was filmed across four continents and 13 countries. (Check local schedule)

Global peak energy:
Implications for future human populations

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The fact that the amount of energy available to human beings is subject to a limit—global peak energy—has profound implications for future human population levels and living standards.

The following analysis represents my initial attempt to understand the issue; the primary conclusions are unsettling, but clear.

  • Based on publicly available data, global peak energy will probably occur between the years 2025 and 2030; total available energy will decline continuously thereafter.
  • The maximum supportable worldwide human population level will peak between the years 2025 and 2030 as well, and decline continuously thereafter.