There are massive problems in the decades ahead. The public is aware of some of the effects of global warming and climate change. There are many other megaproblems, some more dangerous or debilitating. The good news is that there are solutions.

Innovative thinking, cooperation around the world and exciting technologies are providing answers. Whether the future is bleak or of unimaginable opportunity, depends upon education and political will.

As we learn to understand this century and play its complex game, we can chart extraordinary futures. Today's young people must be given the confidence to transform their lifestyles, the environment and Homo Sapiens itself. We can create civilizations more magnificent than anything yet conceived. We need the political will to transform our world rather than wreck it.