"Decline does not have to be sudden to be devastating. Instead of a dramatic crash, the world may experience a stair-step descent: recessions leading to energy shocks; energy shocks leading to more recessions; recessions leading to financial crises; each one stripping away another layer of security. Social services erode. Infrastructure decays. Trust in government evaporates. Life [becomes] simpler [and] more local [in] smaller communities. Desperate humans may [exacerbate] environmental destruction for a time, until [their own] populations collapse, too."