Energy and biologists

Experts have been warning for years that the Earth has a limited supply of fossil fuels. But the fact that we will run out of oil sooner rather than later has not grabbed our collective attention. We have been vaguely aware of the problem, but, instead of changing our energy‐hungry ways, we have carried on driving ever‐bigger cars or using airplanes for cheap flights to Paris or New York, much as we used to take the bus to the next town. Similarly, many scientists and environmentalists saw the links between our energy consumption and its effect on the environment, and have long‐warned about the dire consequences of burning fossil fuels. Yet, their warnings fell on the deaf ears of most politicians and consumers who just wanted to get on with their lives. And now, although policy‐makers and the public are increasingly accepting that carbon dioxide emissions contribute to global climate change with serious effects on the biosphere, it is already too late to prevent some of the changes from happening. Moreover, as …