During my research on peak oil and energy resources, climate change, and the capacity of the Earth to support human life, I found that there was much information available on the issues (i. e. , the relevant science, data, and facts were already available), but that much of it was not synthesized to make a comprehensive and complete picture (i. e. , complete with accurate data and comprehensive analyses). So, some of the people who may be aware of peak oil (or climate change) may not fully understand the consequences. And, while some people may be concerned about peak oil, they may be unaware of the extent of the climate change crisis…
And vice versa. For instance, many policymakers and negotiators are arguing with little progress over the wrong climate targets (i. e. , an average global temperature increase of 2 o C above pre-Industrial Revolution levels by limiting the atmospheric CO 2 concentration to 450 ppm), while assuming that anything resembling business as usual energy consumption and economic growth is possible. Yet, the scientific evidence and projections clearly indicate that all of these targets and assumptions are very incorrect and woefully inadequate.
As another example, much of the peak oil literature does not offer the reader a comprehensive explanation of peak oil and its potential impacts on society. The information is very good, but much of it focuses on one or only several issues, which may leave many readers unfamiliar with peak energy issues with more questions than answers about the issue, its consequences, or how to adapt to it. Similarly, much climate literature does not consider energy scarcity or population limits in their analyses. It became obvious to me that writing this report was one of the most important acts I could do for the public, right now.
All discourse and policy on these issues must be based on the current and correct data and science, if it is to have a chance to succeed. This report is an attempt to synthesize and holistically analyze the current state of knowledge on these important and inter-related issues. Despite the inherent uncertainties stemming from the data, science, and predictive power of models, the overall analysis provides a clear picture of the orders of magnitude and probability distributions of current and future global changes.
Ultimately, this report is for the public for the benefit of humanity. It is a warning and a call to action. Since peak oil and climate change are occurring now without much of the public’s awareness, this report may also act as a sort of history so that people in the future may be able to understand what happened to the world regarding peak energy, climate change and economic and societal collapse, after the fact. Future generations should know what happened during this period of history in order to learn from the past mistakes of humanity.
Hopefully, this report may contribute to a smoother and less disastrous post-peak oil transition period by warning people of the impending crises. When I set out to investigate peak oil and energy resources, it was with the intention to either: disprove peak oil theory and/or the predicted timings of when peak oil and energy resources would occur; or to communicate what is peak oil and the potential crisis, if I could not disprove peak oil and its urgency. The deeper I investigated peak oil and energy resource issues, the more it became clear that peak oil was a very severe and imminent crisi