H.G. Wells and the Dystopia

"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race." ~H.G. Wells

Albert Einstein, keeping H.G. Wells' dystopia at bay 

This quote, attributed to the author of War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, and The Island of Dr. Moreau, is itself a bit of a riddle.  I've always assumed it has something to do with pollution or global warming. But that's my modern sensibilities speaking.  H.G. Wells lived and wrote at a time before there was a whole lot of research on the environmental effects of automobile pollution.

So I put it to you as a sort of meditation...What do you think H.G. Wells had in mind?