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Chapter 11: Changing behaviour
Citation
Brook, BW, Chapter 11: Changing behaviour, Visions 2100: stories from your future, Vivid Publishing, J O'Brien (ed), Fremantle, Australia, pp. 153. ISBN 9781925341522 (2015) [Other Book Chapter]
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Abstract
The great 'power-down' never did happen. Yes, there were
short-term supply crises with oil and gas, and increasingly
dogged protests as each new coal project was pursued. But the
hydrocarbons kept flowing, and stacking up, at least for the first
few decades of the twenty-first century, as we found ever more
inventive ways of squeezing and milling it out of ancient geological
traps.
But set against this dismal' progress' was an emerging realization of the astounding potential of nuclear fission. When finally done right, it proved to be cheap, safe, massively scalable and inexhaustible. By the 2060s, we had an abundance of zero-carbon power, Which was just as well, because planetary rehabilitation was an energy-hungry task.
We geo-engineered, we intensified agricultural production, we built upwards, and virtually. Space-'cyber' and 'outer'-were the vast vistas of the next economy. And it was the visionary entrepreneurs that ended up taking us to space-permanently-opening up a virtually unlimited supply of raw materials and living space for the future of humanity. On Earth, our footprint shrank, as we pulled back from our encroachment of wildlife and habitats and let nature gradually reclaim large swathes of the planet. We simply didn't need it anymore, and it was time to give back.
But set against this dismal' progress' was an emerging realization of the astounding potential of nuclear fission. When finally done right, it proved to be cheap, safe, massively scalable and inexhaustible. By the 2060s, we had an abundance of zero-carbon power, Which was just as well, because planetary rehabilitation was an energy-hungry task.
We geo-engineered, we intensified agricultural production, we built upwards, and virtually. Space-'cyber' and 'outer'-were the vast vistas of the next economy. And it was the visionary entrepreneurs that ended up taking us to space-permanently-opening up a virtually unlimited supply of raw materials and living space for the future of humanity. On Earth, our footprint shrank, as we pulled back from our encroachment of wildlife and habitats and let nature gradually reclaim large swathes of the planet. We simply didn't need it anymore, and it was time to give back.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Other Book Chapter |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | future, society, climate change |
| Research Division: | Environmental Sciences |
| Research Group: | Climate change impacts and adaptation |
| Research Field: | Ecological impacts of climate change and ecological adaptation |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Policy, Climate Change and Natural Hazards |
| Objective Group: | Adaptation to climate change |
| Objective Field: | Ecosystem adaptation to climate change |
| UTAS Author: | Brook, BW (Professor Barry Brook) |
| ID Code: | 107150 |
| Year Published: | 2015 |
| Deposited By: | Plant Science |
| Deposited On: | 2016-03-07 |
| Last Modified: | 2016-03-09 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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