Keep a stock of cheap food on hand, just in case – on a small budget. Should you move – or stay? The late Dr. Norman Myers of Oxford on eco-migration. Replay from Ecoshock 2009: financial crash, Peak Oil, and climate disruption – what you can do.
Listen to or download this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
TRIPLE CRASH
We enter the triple crash: economy, climate and energy all in crisis mode.
The energy crisis is still developing. Aside from closing of the Strait of Hormuz, the route for at least 20% of world oil and gas, actual production in the Middle East is being destroyed by both sides. These include the South Pars gas field in Iran, refineries in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, loading ports – it is a long list. Qatar said it will take three to five years to repair their war-damaged liquid gas plant before it can resume full production.
At the same time, and not connected by the media, the Ukrainians are destroying very large amounts of oil and gas from Russia. Inland refineries have been struck and set on fire. Loading ports in the Black Sea and the Baltic are heavily damaged. A Russian gas ship was set ablaze in the Mediterranean, allegedly by Ukrainian forces temporarily based in Libya. All this adds up to fewer fossil fuels available. If this continues, it means a forced reduction in human greenhouse gas emissions and a crash of our industrial trading system.
The whole fossil fuel scene looks a lot like Peak Oil, but sped up into a couple of months instead of years decline. Fracking delayed peak oil by decades but now war has done it. We can listen to the Peak Oil conversation for ideas to cope now.
A financial crash is also brewing. It begins in America even before the war with unregulated banking houses, called “private credit” unable to return money to investors. U.S. debt is skyrocketing toward 40 trillion dollars. Foreign investors are running away. All sorts of market indicators look terrible. A former head of Goldman Sachs just said this “smells” like a crash like 2008. Listen to this from the YouTube Geopolitical Economy Report April 6, 2026.
Clip from YouTube “New financial crash?” Geopolitical Economy Report April 6, 2026
CLIMATE DISRUPTION – FROM BACKGROUND TO FOREGROUND
All though economic and energy turbulence, the climate crisis adds one catastrophe after another. Unexpected costs appear like extreme water shortages. That is huge in Iran. Just before America and Israel attacked, the Iranian government talked about moving the capital Tehran because water is running out after a multi-year drought and long-lasting extreme heat.
So it’s all there: climate crisis, financial failure, and energy decline. This rolling crash features decarbonization – forced not by governments but by war. Energy shock started in the Philippines and East Asia. The last tankers from the Gulf reached the UK and Europe in the first week of April. Then they stop.
As industries shut down, workers lose income. Sky-high diesel prices make everything from food to consumer goods cost more. Things you always counted on stop showing up. Maybe this system will keep stumbling on. It has survived all the doubters and doomers. I don’t expect mad-max scenes in developed countries, but you may want to do two things: buy food insurance and get some seeds – while you can.
The following program was recorded in the last triple crisis. It was 2009. Large US banks and trading firms went bankrupt. The climate crisis was emerging. The Peak Oil movement explored shrinking oil and gas. Things looked very dicey. So I laid out my experience in keeping a stock of cheap food on hand, just in case. Even with a small budget, you can follow these tips. We also cover another tough decision: if a major Depression arrives, should you move – or stay where you are? The late Dr. Norman Myers of Oxford joins us on eco-migration, a field he practically founded. Norman Myers passed away in 2019 at age 85, one of the pioneers of ecological science.
Wind up the time machine. We have arrived in the future. Is this the Great Crisis?
LIFE AFTER THE CRASH
Posted on Feb, 27, 2009
2009 SHOW OPENING…
Holy Hanna – the wheels are coming off the gilded wagon of capitalism. Part of me is excited that the zombie system killing the planet has cracked open. My other side is fearful. I like peaceful streets and grocery stores with food in them. Damn it, I’m cheering and weeping for both sides!
Let’s have a little chat.
In addition to surviving, we’ll also talk about whether you should homestead where you are, or plan to eco-migrate. The show includes an interview with Eco-migration expert Dr. Norman Myers of Oxford. He practically founded the field with a paper written in 1993. Myers is author of 19 books and winner of many prestigious awards.
After last week’s program, where I realized the climate has already tipped, I briefly considered ending Radio Ecoshock. Part of my mission was to save the climate, to stop the change. Now, with the latest science in, I don’t think that is possible. We have inadvertently tripped a switch that will end up, as James Hansen says, with a different planet. Just with the greenhouse emissions already released, and committed by our dependence on coal and oil, the irreversible melting of the Polar ice has begun, along with the world’s glaciers. It’s just a matter of how fast, how bad, and can we adapt….
Good luck to us all. I’m Alex Smith. Thank you for listening. Take care of one another.