In a nutshell: Maybe if I say disaster is inevitable, you'll listen:

We are in a fool's climate, accidentally kept cool by smoke, and before this century is over billions of us will die and the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable.

Or, at least, buy my book:

My new book The Revenge of Gaia expands these thoughts, but you still may ask why science took so long to recognise the true nature of the Earth...

I can remember reading The Late Great Planet Earth, and then hearing a lot about The Population Bomb. Both predicted imminent apocalypse in a sort of right-left tennis match of doom and gloom, both settling on a time between 1983 and 1992 for the final volley. As with essentially all predictions of this sort, history obstinately refused to end, as it will again today.

The advent of market economics and modern weaponry have made western civilization remarkably resilient. We ceased being vulnerable to outside human forces perhaps five centuries ago, and to outside environmental ones perhaps four after that. If the 20th century proved anything it proved the only time we're now in real danger is when we actualy listen to people who predict apocalypse and try to act on their "exclusive, imperative" solutions.

If Christianity hadn't grown up as Rome was falling to ruin, I often wonder if we would be quite this fascinated with the end times. Certainly no great Eastern religion is so luridly in love with its own demise.

But if you actually do believe this tripe, by all means buy the book, build a shelter, stockpile to your heart's content. You'll at least be keeping one old British coot off the street and providing jobs to who knows how many survivalist industries in the meantime. And maybe the rest of us will finally get some peace.