Other editions of book Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twe

A “frightening and important” look at our unsustainable future (Time Out Chicago). A controversial hit that has sparked debate among business leaders, environmentalists, and others, The Long Emergency is an eye-opening look at the unprecedented challenges we face in the years ahead, as oil runs out and the global systems built on it are forced to change radically. From the author of The Geography of Nowhere, it is a book that “should be read, digested, and acted upon by every conscientious U.S. politician and citizen” (Michael Shuman, author of Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in a Global Age).

The last two hundred years have seen the greatest explosion of progress and wealth in the history of mankind. But the age of oil, that fuelled this expansion, is coming rapidly to an end. The depletion of fossil fuels is about to change radically life as we know it, and do so much sooner than we think. In The Long Emergency, the distinguished commentator and analyst James Howard Kunstler explains what to expect after we pass the tipping point of peak oil production, and sets out to prepare us for economic, political, and social changes of an unimaginable scale. Riveting, authoritative and ultimately hopeful, The Long Emergency brings new urgency and accessibility to the critical issues that will shape our future, and that we can no longer afford to ignore. It looks set to change we way we think about the world, and our place in it.

With his classics of social commentary The Geography of Nowhere and Home from Nowhere, James Howard Kunstler has established himself as one of the great commentators on American space and place. Now, with The Long Emergency, he offers a shocking vision of a post-oil future. As a result of artificially cheap fossil-fuel energy, we have developed global models of industry, commerce, food production, and finance over the last 200 years. But the oil age, which peaked in 1970, is at an end. The depletion of nonrenewable fossil fuels is about to radically change life as we know it, and much sooner than we think. The Long Emergency tells us just what to expect after the honeymoon of affordable energy is over, preparing us for economic, political, and social changes of an unimaginable scale. Riveting and authoritative, The Long Emergency is a devastating indictment that brings new urgency and accessibility to the critical issues that will shape our future, and that we can no longer afford to ignore. It is bound to become a classic of social science.

The last two hundred years have seen the greatest explosion of progress and wealth in the history of mankind. But the age of oil, that fuelled this expansion, is coming rapidly to an end. The depletion of fossil fuels is about to transform life as we know it, and do so much sooner than we think. In "The Long Emergency", the distinguished commentator and analyst James Howard Kunstler explains what to expect after we pass the tipping point of peak oil production, and sets out to prepare us for economic, political, and social changes of an unimaginable scale.