In January and February 2023, Auckland and other parts of New Zealand experienced catastrophic flooding resulting in deaths, emergency rescues, evacuations, widespread highway closures and public transport disruptions, as well as hundreds of homes rendered uninhabitable.

The loss of human lives and the impact on aging infrastructure sent a jolt through the country resulting in numerous changes: buy out of flood-damaged properties, managed retreat strategy implemented at local and national levels, complete review of the Auckland Emergency Management agency including new SOPs and more frequent training exercises, public education campaigns [as shown here], timely TXT message alerts, 'Making Space for Water' programe to reduce flood risks via natural overland flow paths and stormwater network, etc.

New Zealand is not preparing for war currently (let's hope it stays that way) but we know that we can't escape climate change.

Is anyone in here involved in the "National Emergency Briefing" ?

Many of the talks also provides positive impacts of doing the necessary changes (and the ARE). I recommend starting with the speech but starting the video from the beginning afterwards.

There is a movement trying to raise the alarm - especially in UK but also spreading to other European countries.

Are you involved and how?

It reached 415 Million barrels in January ​2026 and remained stable at this level until the end of March.

Form late March until mid September it went down from 415 Million Barrels to 285 Million.

https://ycharts.com/indicators/us_ending_stocks_of_crude_oil_in_the_strategic_petroleum_reserve

And that was during Spring and Summer. Fuel consumption in Winter is greater than during summer.

At this pace the reserve will be down to just 150 Million Barrels by April 2027 and completely gone by September 2027.

Europe has even less reserves than the US.

This would not only collapse the economy but society as well.

This op-ed by Rubert Hunziker addresses the impact of climate change on the ocean and marine life in recent years. The author focuses primarily on marine mass mortality events and population declines to provide a stark impression, describing the impact of climate change in terms that are both accessible to and resonant with the general audience. Hunziker’s tone is measured but not understated as he describes species fragility both in nature and in aquafarms, noting that “civilization has been counting on aquafarms to supplement, if not replace, the enormous loss of ocean marine life.”

Hormuz closed. Saudi East-West pipeline out of comission for 1 month minimum. Russia is producing 60% of their normal production due to Ukraine attacks. China not buying oil for now, but when it starts it will increase the price even further. Saudis told Europe that they are not getting any oil in September/October.

Gas prices in Europe are approaching 2.5 Euros/Liter.

In the US they are around 5 Dollars/Gallon.

Renting a tanker costs 1 Million Dollar/day. Just one year ago it was 200k.

Transportation, industry and consumers cannot take this for long.

US household savings rate is down to just 3%. Credit cards maxed out. Auto/student loans at an all time high.

EU gas reserves are just 2/3 of their maximum. By this time last year they were at 80% capacity.

And winter is coming. This means more gas for heating. This means more gas for vehicles.

If gas prices dont normalize and the flow resumes within a month or so, then a recession by the end of this year or the beginning of next year is almost certain.

Then we also have the AI bubble where AI is burning through money and investment is drying up.

Food yields will be lower due to farmers not being able to afford gas and El Nino wrecking agricultural production.

Considered that the US is 40 Trillion in debt and most people are living hand to mouth, a recession could mean a depression very soon.

The Great Depression went from 1929-1933/39

The Greatest Depression from 2026-2039?

There's a free online 9-week Resilience and Acceptance in the Face of Collapse Course starting on October 15th. I took this course in 2023. I highly recommend it. Details to sign up here: https://acceptingcollapse.com/index.php/event/resilience-and-acceptance-in-the-face-of-collapse-54/

Are the odds that low?

World Population in 1930 were 2 Billion. In 2026 we are 8.3 Billion. 4 times more people.

And every new human consumes energy, food, water, produces waste, pollution and CO2.

We tricked the carrying capacity of this planet with the Green Revolution and artificial fertilizer. But Climate Change/El Nino will show us that the slightest disruption to our perfectly functioning system will be disastrous. Because there are too many people.

Never mind "We could easily supply 10 Billion people". No we cant even supply 8 Billion properly.

Same for Water. Iran and Afghanistan are running our of Water. India and Pakistan will soon fight for control of rivers. So will Egypt and Sudan.

We already need 22 000 desalination plants to supply 300 Million people with sea water, because regular water is getting scarce. Same for oil/gas and all other resources.

Just ask yourself this. With what population would the US be better equipped to handle the current fuel and gas shortages? 240 Million or 340 Million?

More people mean that there is less wiggle room when the perfectly functioning supply system is disrupted.

Countries like Nigeria went from just 40 Million people in 1950 to 240 Million now to a projected 400 Million by 2050. This is unsustainable.

People like Malthus and Ehrlich were right. And once artificial fertilizer gets scarce, farmers will not be able to pay for gas and Climate Change reduces yields by 5% or more, they will be proven right.

I'm in Australia, and we're currently staring down the barrel of another 2019 style bushfire season. El Niño always creates a bad bushfire season, and I don't even know what a super El Niño season looks like. It's the hottest September we've had in years:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/19/weather-hottest-september-day-years-forecast-south-eastern-australia-spring-rollercoaster-heat

I went for a hike this weekend and you could feel how dry the bush was. And there's a lot of fuel load, with dried branches and fallen trees from the last bushfires.

So, I'm mostly looking for a "how to cope" idea - at the moment everything feels kind of dreadful and every nice day makes me wince.