Last weekend I had the great pleasure of reading "Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble"; written by Lester R. Brown from the Earth Policy Institute

The Earth Policy Institute have kindly created an online version of the book in its entirety that's free for all to read.

If you or anyone you know is in any doubt as to how serious the problems are that our planet faces; I suggest reading it or recommending it to people whom are somewhat skeptical. I certainly learned a lot from the experience.

But it's not just about gloom and doom. While the first half of Plan B explores the issues negatively impacting our environment and civilization in great detail;  including the topics of peak oil, water shortages, rising sea levels and global warming; the second half of the book focuses on solutions to these problems.

If Mr. Brown is correct; the fixes are more than possible and would only cost 1/6th of annual global military spending each year.. if we act soon. That's a point that is constantly driven home.

Mr. Brown states we need to embrace these solutions now and be prepared for sacrifice - "Saving civilization means restructuring the economy—and at wartime speed".

He outlines the wartime effort in the early 1940's when the USA entered into World War II and the absolutely incredible productivity that resulted from the entire nation being moblized. He's using the comparison to show that even though the threats are of biblical proportions, it is possible to save our environment and given these threats we're facing are even more compelling than those faced by the USA during the war years; we should do so quickly before it's too late.

The other great aspect of this book is all the facts, claims and statistics are referenced and sources cited; so there's plenty more reading that can be done on any particular topic. It's a fantastic research resource.

The book is also available in paperback if you wish to purchase a hard copy.