It doesn't seem like something to find comfort in, what with having wiped out larger mammals among other human-unfriendly things.

I've a further concern in that sure, Peak Oil may eventually slow down our GHG gas production (well, at least until coal, methane hydrates and less desireable petroleum sources fill the gap) but given what we know of how slow recovery from high atmospheric concentrations of CO2, would that be enough to avert disaster? And what if we manage to release large amounts of GHGs currently sequestered in frozen soil? Sure, I'm not a climate scientist -- just a concerned layman, but I'm thinking that your cynical optimism is just a tad misplaced.

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'It depends on which research report you read,'says Hattie, 'and sorry about this, but I do tend to believe the ones that suit me.'