A problem becomes a crisis when it challenges our ability to cope and thus threatens our identity.
Sleepwalking on megathreat mountain
A host of interconnected “megathreats” is imperiling our future.
THE COLLINS WORD OF THE YEAR 2022 IS…
Permacrisis: noun, an extended period of instability and insecurity
‘Polycrisis’ may be a buzzword, but it could help us tackle the world’s woes
Polycrisis is a more accurate term to describe the world’s ongoing crises and how they’re interacting with one another.
What Happens When a Cascade of Crises Collide?
In reality, the likelihood that the current mess is a coincidence is vanishingly small.
Polycrisis!
A new public event series exploring the multiple, overlapping crises of our time and how we can navigate the global polycrisis.
More in this category

Ayan Mahamoud: “East Africa and the Poly-Crisis”
In many ways, the discussions in our world are not only energy blind but also blind to accelerating threats to nations outside our own.

Best 20 clips of 2022 | The Great Simplification year in review
What can we take away from 2022? Here is a round-up from Nate Hagens, who is among the most insightful reporters on the polycrisis.

Welcome to the world of the polycrisis
Pandemic, drought, floods, mega storms and wildfires, threats of a third world war — how rapidly we have become inured to the list of shocks. So much so that, from time to time, it is worth standing back to consider the sheer strangeness of our situation. As former US...

Modeling the drivers of the metacrisis
In this fourth installment of conversations with Daniel Schmachtenberger, Nate Hagens dives deeper into the nuances of humans using energy, materials and technology.

The Polycrisis: An introduction
The Polycrisis aims to untangle the Gordian Knot of security, climate, economic, and political dilemmas.

‘Permacrisis’ is a dictionary’s word of the year in ‘truly awful’ 2022
We’ve all been living in a state of permanent crisis, a “permacrisis” if you will, according to lexicographers at the U.K.-based Collins Dictionary who have anointed it the word of the year for 2022.

Limits and Beyond
Edited by Ugo Bardi & Carlos Alvarez Pereira
In 1972, a book changed the world.
The Club of Rome commissioned a report that shifted how we see what humans are doing to the planet. Looking back five decades later, what happened next, what did we do and not do, what did we learn, and what happens now?

The past, present, and urgent future of rationing
Managing increasing demand for water, clean air, minerals, energy, and food is rapidly becoming one of our greatest challenges. What strategies are available to us? Are there alternatives to winners and losers? Stan Cox’s work on looks at these pressing topics through the lens of rationing in his recent piece published by the FAN Initiative.
Rationing in the Polycrisis with Stan Cox
Managing increasing demand for water, clean air, minerals, energy, and food is rapidly becoming one of our greatest challenges. What strategies are available to us? Are there alternatives to winners and losers?

The end of the world as we have known it? An introduction to Collapsology
It is hoped that in the end there will emerge a more informed pastoral theology and, by extension, a more informed pastoral and spiritual care, guided by the findings of climate science.

The Long View October Digest
Stanley Wu’s monthly Long View Digest curates the best work we find from around the world on the interconnected and interacting stressors of the global polycrisis.
This month, Stan reviews articles on the death of empire, collapsology, climate-driven mass migration, how AI invented 40,000 lethal molecules in six hours, Sri Lanka’s collapse, Australia’s decline, the Rhine drying up, and the poetic art of living in a time between worlds. He’s also found a beautiful new book that brings together Indigenous voices writing about climate change.

How do you know if you’re living through the death of an empire?
It’s natural that we expect the end of a story—the end of an empire—to have some drama. The reality is far less exciting.
Rescue: From global crisis to a better world with Ian Goldin
Despite acknowledging that the global system is broken, Ian is positive about its potential.

Ministry of the Future
Author Kim Stanley Robinson discusses his latest book, “Ministry for the Future.”
Underestimating the challenges of avoiding a ghastly future
An international group of 17 leading physical and social scientists, including Omega Advisory Board member Joan Diamond, have produced a comprehensive yet concise assessment of the state of civilization, warning that the outlook is more dire and dangerous than is generally understood.