As Professor Richard Dawkins says in his book The Greatest Show On Earth - 'at any moment somebody might dig up a mammal in Cambrian rocks, and the theory of evolution would be instantly blown apart if they did'.

Of course that is not going to happen. I believe the theory of evolution is safe.

However I don't understand how some people can adopt a position and then defend that position to the point of irrationality, even when shifting evidence indicates a change of view.

I have recently had my views on the short term future of our planet changed; not in terms of whether climate change is human-induced, or whether enough is being done about it, but in terms of how this is going to play out.

There was one prime cause behind my shift of view and two secondary ones.

Firstly I happened to read an article by George Monbiot entitled 'Lab-grown food will soon destroy farming – and save the planet'. Secondly I downloaded and read the RethinkX report to which George refers in his article. And then I did some more research - generally reading as much as possible on the subject and forming some new views of my own, and re-forming others based upon my understanding and perception of the world and what is happening within it.

Whether or not you agree with what George says (on the whole - I do), will depend on your own perception of the issues. I, for one, feel a whole lot better about the future than I have in recent months. The reason is that I have far more faith in the ability of economic forces to bring about meaningful change within a practically useful timeframe, than I do in that of socio-political campaigning in the form of protests and demonstrations.

Of course the 'action of the people' is absolutely vital, but more so in a social context. It is vital that the social conscience (and by that I mean awareness and vision rather than guilt or morality) is guided and helped through what, I believe, is going to be the biggest societal upheaval since the industrial revolution - perhaps ever - since this is going to be global.

The challenge for humans over the next decade or two is not going to be how to save the planet - economics will do that. No, the trick is going to be to navigate the changes that will be thrust upon almost every one of us, without losing the plot, without the destruction of civil order, in order to evolve into a better society than (or at least as good as) the one we have now.

I think governments should concentrate on looking after the people, especially those who will be displaced and / or disadvantaged by the changes.

In my relatively recent view our own current government is pretty much on the right track.