There is some evidence that petrol fumes may increase aggression, possibly explaining increasing instances of road rage, as populations become exposed to ever rising levels of vehicle-produced pollution.
Heightened aggression may be yet another risk for the human population chronically exposed to urban air polluted by automobile smoke.

A nice gallery of equally nicely designed old oil cans.

Some of the consequences of rising petrol prices are actually quite positive, including less traffic congestion, reduced pollution, improved health and fitness, and, saving the best for last, possibly even four day work weeks:
[US] Companies, colleges and governments are moving to four-day weeks. Brevard Community College in Cocoa, Fla., went to four days for the [...]

Apparently Earth’s oil reserves are twice the size of published estimates, according to Richard Pike, CEO of the UK Royal Society of Chemistry, who says the inaccurate reporting of the capacity of multiple reservoirs is distorting the overall figure.
Oil companies produce a bell-shaped probability distribution for how much each oil reservoir might hold, and then [...]

How petrol is putting Sydney under the pump
Of course it’s not just Sydney, or even Australia, that’s feeling the pinch from the ever rising cost of oil, and far from just biting into our bank balances, increasing fuel prices could bring about a radical realignment in the way we live.
Further rises in petrol prices could [...]