The 2030 Spike: Countdown to Global Catastrophe

The clock is relentlessly ticking! 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. 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. 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. 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. This book is powerful and essential reading for all people concerned with the future of humanity and planet earth.

Table of Contents:
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

About the Author :
Colin Mason, a foreign correspondent, broadcaster and SEATO adviser to the Thai Government, was a senator in the Australian Federal Parliament for nine years as deputy leader of the Australian Democrats. He served on the Senate Standing Committee for science and the environment, a select committee on the effects of Agent Orange on Australian servicemen, and the first delegation of the Australian Parliament to China, and initiated the private member's bill that led to the salvation of the Pristine Franklin River in Tasmania. He has published 12 books including the international bestselling novel Hostage and A Short history of Asia.

Review :
'Is this a book you can afford to ignore?... Only the foolhardy would surely dare leave it unread on the shelf.' International Affairs 'This is a bold, thought-provoking and ultimately rewarding book, well-researched, full of ideas - and thus a good, all-round primer on the state of the planet.' BBC Wildlife 'Mason believes that within 30 years six factors - depleted fuel supplies, population growth, poverty, famine, water shortages and climate change - will converge to tear humanity apart. And it s hard to disagree with him.' The Ecologist 'The 2030 Spike is an impressive tour of our current world: from sexual slavery to sailing ships, from malaria to microcredits, from nanotechnology to neopaganism, all the horrors and promises of our troubled Zeitgeist seem to be reflected here.' Resurgence 'This is one of the best examples of a book capturing the essence of sustainability.' International Affairs 'He offers 100 actions that need to be taken immediately to avoid disaster and build a possible better future civilisation' Luce Press Clippings- FUTURIST Bethesda, MD June 2004