io9: pre-apocalyptic

Love Mad Max? You Could Be Living It Soon Enough

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:30:00 PDT

Mad Max's vision of a shattered world where social order has broken down, and everyone fights over the last drops of oil, could be reality soon. Oil prices are starting to tick upwards again after coming down from summer 2008's heights. Imagine what would happen if oil reached double the price levels it hit a year or so ago, says the Guardian:

Imagine what would happen if prices rose, say, to $300 a barrel. Or higher. Not only would it become too expensive to drive unless absolutely necessary, but food would become prohibitively expensive to transport, goods from China would be too expensive to ship, and plastics, which come from oil, would be unaffordable. The cold turkey after more than a century of cheap oil would be painful indeed. For developing countries it would be fatal – many could not afford energy at those prices.

The Guardian quotes the International Energy Agency as stating the world needs to find an extra 64 million barrels of oil per day by 2030 — or around six times Saudi Arabia's production capacity — to meet demand. But nobody knows where that oil is going to come from. [Guardian]

Korean Officials Train For Nuclear Attack On Pee Wee Herman's Boat

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:30:00 PDT

With North Korea reportedly moving forward with its uranium-enrichment program, South Korea is bracing itself for World War III. South Korea's Coast Guard staged a training exercise in Incheon with this somewhat cartoony "mock ship." More training-for-apocalypse photos below.

According to AFP:

Policemen from the South Korean Coast Guard's Special Sea Attack Team (SSAT) board a patrol boat during an anti-terror exercise on their training ground in Incheon, west of Seoul, on June 30, 2009. South Korea's defence chief said on June 30 that North Korea appeared to be pushing forward with a uranium enrichment programme, stoking fears the secretive communist state may use it for nuclear weapons.

Images by Associated Press and AFP/Getty.

Nuclear Missiles Are Rock Stars In Moscow

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:40:23 PDT

Russians prepare to parade nuclear missiles through Red Square as part of the annual Victory Day celebrations. The procession of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, a scary Cold War tradition, ended after the Soviet Union fell, but now Russia is reviving it. Call it apocalyptic retro-futurist nostalgia. Or maybe just overcompensation. Either way, Russians will be screaming and maybe throwing their underwear at these shiny gray WMDs. A gallery of weapon-porn, after the jump.

Image from Getty Images