We’ve indeed had people saying we’ll run out of oil or food, and that’s the essence of the report — to measure variables around some of these predictions and see what’s happened over time. At the moment the more dire predictions, based on data and science, are tracking to plan.

And it’s not like doomdays don’t happen; many societies as organized as our own have collapsed, most within a couple decades of their peaks. Just because we haven’t had it happen to us within our lifetimes doesn’t mean it’s fictional.

That said, the report does offer some hope if we can design and implement technology to fix the various environmental crises we’re facing. The question is whether we’ll do it.