Welcome to Graphic Descriptions and my first post. Each week I will publish a new graph that will provide insights into the core processes, flows, energy sources, and transformations that underpin our immensely powerful, productive, and perilous 21st century civilization.
I’m interested in several questions, including, how did more than a billion of us come to live so well? What can history tell us about the future of our food and energy systems? Can we maintain “normal” 20th century economic growth rates through the 21st century? Is it wise to try? What can we learn from material flows within rainforests and coral reefs that will enable us to restructure our civilization so that it might be possible to keep some version of it functioning for hundreds or thousands of years into the future? How will our grandchildren heat their homes and charge their phones?
This blog is a companion to my forthcoming book. That book is complete and I hope that it can be published in 2017 or ’18. Like this blog, my book focuses on our global 21st century civilization. It explores our history, including the transformation of food and energy systems, with the aim of illuminating our future. If we do not understand how our 21st century civilization works, we can neither direct it, nor protect it.
I will post regular updates on this site regarding my book and its availability.
Welcome to Graphic Descriptions, and to a weekly exploration of the energy sources, processes, perils, and possible futures of the most powerful civilization that has ever existed on Earth.
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