"A preponderance of scientific evidence tells us that industrial civilization is transforming the planetary ecology at a rapid pace. According to the National Academy of Sciences report, "Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change," “The rate of climate change now underway is probably as fast as any warming event in the past 65 million years, and it is projected that its pace over the next 30 to 80 years will continue to be faster and more intense." We confront a variety of known and unknown factors, including species extinction and ocean acidification, that threaten our collective future. There is real potential for a rapid rise of global temperatures and the engagement of many positive feedback loops in the climate system, potentially leading to depopulation or even an extinction-level event for the human species in the near term.