Megacities That Should Not Exist Without Oil
One of the most remarkable transformations of the modern era has been the emergence of megacities whose populations far exceed the ecological limits of their surrounding environments. Historically, cities could only grow as large as nearby farmland and water supplies allowed. Urban populations depended directly on the land surrounding them.
That constraint largely vanished with the rise of fossil energy.
Oil-powered transportation networks now move food, fertilizer, construction materials, and manufactured goods across continents and oceans. The result is a world where cities such as Karachi, Shanghai, London, and New York house millions of people whose survival depends on global supply chains rather than local resources.
Food arrives through refrigerated trucks and container ships. Fertilizers used in agriculture rely heavily on fossil fuels. Construction materials are transported thousands of kilometers using diesel-powered logistics systems.
Remove the energy infrastructure that enables this flow, and the scale of modern urban life becomes impossible.
