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"A charismatic rising star vividly relates the big challenges facing the world." --Jared Diamond, author of the Pulitzer Prize winner Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse
Book Description
A vivid forecast of our planet in the year 2050 by a rising star in geoscience, distilling cutting-edge research into four global forces: demographic trends, natural resource demand, climate change, and globalization.
The world's population is exploding, wild species are vanishing, our environment is degrading, and the costs of resources from oil to water are going nowhere but up. So what kind of world are we leaving for our children and grandchildren? Geoscientist and Guggenheim fellow Laurence Smith draws on the latest global modeling research to construct a sweeping thought experiment on what our world will be like in 2050. The result is both good news and bad: Eight nations of the Arctic Rim (including the United States) will become increasingly prosperous, powerful, and politically stable, while those closer to the equator will face water shortages, aging populations, and crowded megacities sapped by the rising costs of energy and coastal flooding.
The World in 2050 combines the lessons of geography and history with state-of-the-art model projections and analytical data-everything from climate dynamics and resource stocks to age distributions and economic growth projections. But Smith offers more than a compendium of statistics and studies- he spent fifteen months traveling the Arctic Rim, collecting stories and insights that resonate throughout the book. It is an approach much like Jared Diamond took in Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse, a work of geoscientific investigation rich in the appreciation of human diversity.
Packed with stunning photographs, original maps, and informative tables, this is the most authoritative, balanced, and compelling account available of the world of challenges and opportunities that we will leave for our children.
The world's population is exploding, wild species are vanishing, our environment is degrading, and the costs of resources from oil to water are going nowhere but up. So what kind of world are we leaving for our children and grandchildren? Geoscientist and Guggenheim fellow Laurence Smith draws on the latest global modeling research to construct a sweeping thought experiment on what our world will be like in 2050. The result is both good news and bad: Eight nations of the Arctic Rim (including the United States) will become increasingly prosperous, powerful, and politically stable, while those closer to the equator will face water shortages, aging populations, and crowded megacities sapped by the rising costs of energy and coastal flooding.
The World in 2050 combines the lessons of geography and history with state-of-the-art model projections and analytical data-everything from climate dynamics and resource stocks to age distributions and economic growth projections. But Smith offers more than a compendium of statistics and studies- he spent fifteen months traveling the Arctic Rim, collecting stories and insights that resonate throughout the book. It is an approach much like Jared Diamond took in Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse, a work of geoscientific investigation rich in the appreciation of human diversity.
Packed with stunning photographs, original maps, and informative tables, this is the most authoritative, balanced, and compelling account available of the world of challenges and opportunities that we will leave for our children.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eleven Things An American Thinks About This Book - For What It's Worth,
By
This review is from: The World in 2050: Four Forces Shaping Civilization's Northern Future (Hardcover)
First - It will surprise you. Some of it is ground that's been covered, but it's put together in a fresh and useful way. It's like being told a great story by an old friend.Second - Dr. Smith exhibits a sly sense of humor often missing in serious compilations of facts and figures. It creeps up on you slowly, gives you a couple of moments where you will actually laugh out loud, and then maintains a consistent twinkle. He does it without trying, which gives you the impression he can be trusted. His sense of humor accepts that some ludicrous things come to pass, and some things we think of as inevitable, never come close to happening. Third - Viewing grain as water transfer. Enlightening. Fourth - Considering the relationship between water and oil. Pretty damn enthralling, if you let it sink in. Fifth - If you think about these ideas long enough, you will start to consider armageddony things. Yet the book will make you feel surprisingly optimistic. Sixth - While this book just skims the surface, the ideas in it run the gamut of Yergin's 'The Prize.' This book could serve as an introduction to 'The Prize: Part II.' You can see the potential in the future of this story. Seven - Dr. Smith does not assume technology will save us. Which is refreshing, and necessary. There is a strong feeling of realism in his account. Eight - The book will spark your imagination more than Disney Land. It will help you fall in love with the North. Nine - It will make you want to learn Norwegian. Ten - You will be happy you hit the ' Add to Cart ' button. Eleven - It will make you like Canada even more.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
AGENDA ALERT: THE PRECEDING NEGATIVE REVIEWER OBVIOUSLY DID NOT READ THIS BOOK,
This review is from: The World in 2050: Four Forces Shaping Civilization's Northern Future (Hardcover)
Shame on this reviewer for unfairly trashing this politically neutral, carefully researched and footnoted, and scientific book as "corporatist" or somehow favoring the global trends it identifies. If anything, Smith actually comes out AGAINST developing the Alberta Tar Sands, which he calls a "nightmare" and compares to Mordor (pp. 189-191). Nor does he ever mention "wonderful opportunities" for multi-national corporations in the Northwest Passage. Dr. Smith also shows that our current growth in material consumption is not sustainable, in contrast to the reviewer's assertion that he somehow favors this. This reviewer obviously did not even read the first few chapters of the book which project a very difficult, undesirable future indeed for many parts of the world.Exploring where current global trends in globalization, resource depletion, and climate change are leading us is NOT the same thing as advocacy. In fact, Dr. Smith does a superb job of sticking to the scientific basis of how these very potent global forces are changing our world both for worse (e.g. species extinctions, continued fossil-fuel use) as well as better (e.g. falling birth rates and poverty), and keeps his personal feelings quiet until the final page of the book. Then, far from cheerleading the big trends he has identified, he challenges the reader to do something about them, asking "What kind of world do you want?" and extolling the power of societal choice. Smith's objectivity and nuance in discussing such controversial topics as globalization, population, and climate change is a refreshing change from hysterical partisans screaming that either the natural world is doomed or that big-business should plow ahead with no regard for people and the environment. You may not like where current trends are headed, but at least this author sticks to scientific and historical facts, an honest reading of others' work, and challenges his readers to decide for themselves--in sharp contrast to this reviewer.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Visionary -- Canada, get ready for what's coming,
By anotheramazonzombie (neverland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The World in 2050: Four Forces Shaping Civilization's Northern Future (Hardcover)
Water conflicts and emerging energy solutions! Hybrid polar bears! Population growth in the East and crashes in the West! The global reach of multinational corporations and migrants! Finite resources and shrinking ice caps! What does it all mean??? Kudos to this book for assembling these and other transformative trends into the most compelling, coherent vision of their impacts today and the new world they are leading us to tomorrow. This is not half-backed wacko futurology but very authoritative (respected scientist and >500 notes and data sources provided in appendix), balanced, and yes - entertaining - journey around our rapidly changing world. Go Canada!!
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