"Most importantly for the economy, it has reached the point where the environment can no longer soak up industrial pollution, the most important aspect of this problem being carbon emissions (or greenhouse gases more broadly) which cause climate change."

They don't, you know. There has been no significant increase in global temperature, or any other kind of 'climate change' for eighteen years, during which 'carbon emissions' -- by which you mean carbon dioxide, a gas vitally necessary for plant growth -- have risen from 0.03% to 0.04% of the atmosphere. Temperature rise predictions for the next century are coming down with each new round of modelling, and -- even if correct -- in no case exceed the rise that normally occurs anywhere in the world during half-an-hour of morning sunshine. So how exactly is this 'catastrophe' supposed to take place?

"The problems are real and vast, Simms argues, and an apocalypse does loom, but if we can change enough fast enough, a new kind of prosperity awaits our global civilisation."

We had that kind of 'prosperity' already five hundred years ago. It's called poverty.

Jon J... you're a bit behind in your reading. The planet is warming steadily, but not everywhere at once. If the thermometer is in your back yard, it can't measure what't happening in the ocean depths. As you learned at school about latent heat, it takes heaps of time for a bunsen burner to melt a flask of ice, and when it's melted it's still only just above zero. All that heat went into the melting. A great deal of heat has 'disappeared' into melting the North Polar ice cap, and loosening up the glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland. Energy is also consumed by winds and waves and storms, which are increasing in violence as the climate changes. I suggest you stop thinking about warming, and concentrate on Climate Change, which has already happened and is ongoing and, according to most pundits, unstoppable now, which, considering the total inability of all governments to make sensible decisions because of their servility to the multinational generators of the problems, makes this Panglossian quote from Simms pretty pointless: "The problems are real and vast, Simms argues, and an apocalypse does loom, but if we can change enough fast enough, a new kind of prosperity awaits our global civilisation."

In actuality the calamity everyone fears has already happened.
It was caused by the aggressive ego-culture of the Western world. A "culture" based on non-cooperation, the principle of absolute competition, the principle of unlimited separate and separativeness consumerism. The idea that life itself is only about physically based self-fulfillment and physically based other-dominating power. Which is a false philosophy that is, tragically, now proclaimed in the houses and streets of every tribal group and nation state on Earth. Glorification of the presumed separate self - the egoic consumer, the bodily based individual or otherwise tribal collective - is, in fact, the dominant world-religion of the present time.

The current world situation offers only the entropic end-pattern for the disintegration of the human species - which will inevitably become the catastrophic and complete failure of the human species and the total demise of the human species, and possibly all of Earthkind too.

The entire pattern and trend of current human culture - including scientific materialism, all mnodes of false philosophy, and everything relating to the current domain of ego-based consumer politics, social egoity, competitive social systems, "tribal" national systems, un-regulated economics, and conventional religion - is about death.

The course of human events is now converging upon a necessary and clear choice between two great alternatives - EITHER the total collapse and destruction of the human species and the Earth-world OR a quintessential turning point of the emerging of a wholly new and systematic global huan culture based on universally participatory cooperation, tolerance, and mutual accountability.

Tragically there are no signs of this happening anywhere on the planet, and even worse, those that presume to be so called conservative (and even "religious") are loudly and aggressively calling for business as usual.

Probably there's global warming and maybe its human caused.

What to do about in a world where democracy and people's other wants demand growth? China, India and developing countries demand high growth for political stability and equity with the West.

No solutions by "enlightened" rulers, who don't do what people want, need apply.

Pete

Dear Mr. McMahon,

As Credit Manager for The Global Alarmist Bank. We note from your article that you are again trying to access some of your Alarmist Credit Accounts. I regret to inform you that we are unable to extend any further Alarm Credit as all your accounts are now significantly overdrawn.

Our staff also audited the many sub-accounts you have opened with us which include;

“Polar bears, rising sea levels, melting ice caps, disappearing glaciers, severe weather events, destruction of our grandchildren’s’ future, peak oil, peak food production, peak population, peak CO2, destruction of species, loss of reefs, coastal property inundation, economic doom, loss of jobs, third world annihilation, eco-refugees, acid oceans, disease and pestilence”

Our staff have been unable to identify any of these accounts that has produced any form of return on investment. Accordingly all these inactive or derelict accounts must now be closed by this Bank and your “Global Doom Forecasting Business” is being placed in receivership.

We have also contacted our EU branch and the only valid “alarm” we can identify is that since 2004, your organization has withdrawn in excess of 800 billion Euros of public money from the EU community and it appears that, as with your accounts here, there has been absolutely no return on that public investment.

We have raised our concerns with each country’s political leadership and the European Parliament. We are encouraged by their initial moves to have your international fraud brought to account. I also understand that many of your members may be held to account under both criminal and financial compensation legislation.

Please ensure that your public credit cards, cheque books and any unspent grant funding are returned to this office within seven working days in order to avoid further legal action.

Your most sincerely,

Pettigrew Snodgrass Jnr
Credit Manager
Global Alarmist Bank
7/14 Public Interest Court
Reality Cit