The debate was not always of the highest quality, with some advocates of population control making stark forecasts of imminent global starvation, and some of their opponents suggesting that a Green Revolution in agriculture would abolish hunger within a generation.
There is unlikely to be any significant production of shale gas or oil in the UK and Europe for at least 20 years, according to BP's starkest forecast yet of the fracking industry's potential outside the US.
In March the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published the volume on adaptation of its fifth assessment report, confirming in starker terms forecasts first outlined by scientists in 1990.
"That's a million barrels of oil a day that nobody has had in their forecasts," Mr. Stark said.
But even as the terms were being outlined, the challenge facing the country became more stark, with the government forecasting two years of deep recession ahead.
Exxon's earnings fell below Wall Street forecasts, in stark contrast to BP and Royal Dutch Shell, which both exceeded market expectations when they released quarterly figures this week.
"We found that many of the near-term successes will be very difficult to maintain and expand in the face of very stark demographic and financial forecasts," the report said.
The forecast stands in stark contrast to some other analysts.
The new forecasts stood in stark contrast with figures from the United States on Friday that showed that more new jobs were created in April than expected, which pushed the unemployment rate to a four-year low.
The issue, then, in forecasting a recovery is stark: When will capital spending revive?
Most big advanced and developing economies alike saw stark downward revisions to their GDP forecasts (from the IMF's July update) for both this year and next.
