A planet challenged - The simple, brutal truth

AS we’ve been preoccupied by economic collapse the terrible and regular warnings about the life-and-death challenges facing our planet seem to have slipped from the headlines.

That’s entirely understandable but as yesterday’s Living Planet Report shows that cannot be a long-term position. Ignoring a looming crisis will not avert it.

The report tells us what we can see if we care to look — humanity’s demands on natural resources has doubled in five decades and are beyond what the planet can provide by more than half.

History shows we can recover from economic collapse but unless we are more proactive in confronting this promised crisis we may not.

It is that brutal, that simple.