Sifter

Here’s a cheery thought: We’re doomed. According to a growing number of scientists, civilization itself is threatened by an overdependence on oil, a non-renewable resource that has become the very basis of human existence. The food we eat, our medicine, the electricity grid and just about everything else that keeps society running is now dependent on the availability of cheap oil. If the aforementioned scientists are right, we are just about to hit a peak in worldwide oil production, followed by an immediate decline that could precipitate economic disaster for industrial civilization. Have a nice day.

Year U.S. oil production peaked 1970

Year world oil production is expected to peak 2005-2010

Current U.S. oil usage 20 million barrels/day

Current world oil usage 80 million barrels/day

Proven world oil reserves 1,050 billion barrels

Ratio of worldwide oil usage vs. new discoveries 6:1

Years left until proven oil reserves depleted 40

U.S. percentage of world oil reserves 2

U.S. percentage of world oil production 8

Percent rise in China’s oil consumption since 1965 1125

Months it would take U.S. to use all the oil in ANWR 6-12

Years it will take to begin extracting ANWR oil 10

Approx. energy in man-hours stored in one barrel of oil 25,000

Fossil-fuel calories needed to produce one calorie of food 10

Average price of oil per barrel 1999 $11.60

Price of oil per barrel 2005 $57