The Future in Plain Sight A Look at Our Planet in the Year 2050

For more than half a century, our planet has enjoyed a prolonged period of privilege and stability. Recent decades have seen some of the most extraordinary prosperity in all of human history, and we have come to view this as the norm. But what if instability returned? And what can we do to prevent that from happening? In The Future in Plain Sight, author Eugene Linden lays out the nine factors that are symptomatic of instability in today's world. They include overpopulation, the widening gap between rich and poor, the resurgence of infectious disease, and the effects of a changing global climate. Linden explores these and other destabilizing forces and tells us what we can do to plan and prepare for life in an unsettled and unsettling universe. From crises in the world's financial markets to the breakdown of natural systems that support human life, The Future in Plain Sightis a powerful look at what lies in store for us in the coming decades.

Eugene Linden is an award-winning journalist, social commentator, and author whose work has appeared in Time magazine, National Geographic, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. He serves as a consultant for the United Nations Development Program and is a former consultant to the State Department on environmental issues. He is the author of The Parrot's Lament.