The World's Woes

Not necessarily novel if you're interested in how the world works, but nonetheless a fantastic documentary explaining how the biggest problems facing the planet are all inextricably interlinked. Although a couple of things did strike me as a tad odd. While this does a great job at highlighting what the problems are and their relation to one another, I was a little surprised at the near total omission of potential technological innovations that would go quite a way to solving some of the issues brought up. For example, with regards to energy security Dr. Ahmed forwards that in the future we will have to adjust our practices in line with current available technology such as wind and solar power. What he fails to mention however is that we are also currently on the cusp of some major breakthroughs in renewable clean energies. The ITER project for example holds great hope for commercial fusion energy while geothermal energy, although briefly mentioned, is vastly understated. Likewise the problem of diminishing agricultural yields may also be averted through hydroponics, a method which could vastly increase food production. Still, despite some Malthusian errors this is nonetheless a fascinating holistic look at our world.

The World In 2010

Pretty interesting, especially the growth in technology since 2000. Further interesting, it seems that the film industry hasn't been as hard hit by piracy as it claims. However, how they skewed the temperature data is beyond me. Global temperatures in fact have not risen since 1998, so I can only assume they used long-term trends, such as over a period of thirty-years. Cunts.