The latest years there is lot of bad news about oceans overloaded with plastic waste, global warming, etc.
Warning: A Pessimistic view.
And to my opinion, unfortunately there are no signs of improvement. The Paris agreement on global warming, laws against deforestration slow down the deterioration of the environment a little.
Plastic packaging is still mass produced and despite government efforts (the EU plans to ban disposable plastics by 2030 which is way too late while the US is doing nothing), tropical forests in Brasil or Congo are shrinking faster than ever, a German and British research shows that insects numbers are shrunk by 1/3 since the 1970, while these are essential for all life on Earth.
When this continues and we (mostly the big corporations) have a mantra growth, growth, growth in this pace I guess the de-terraformed world in 2070 will look like:
* Less people in the world than now as many are died by disasters with extreme weather, wars on depleting water and other resources. And India, China and Africa getting more prosperous are exacerbating the running out resources.
* The Big Five in Africa are all extinct
* Middle East (e.g. Dubai) and India are unlivable hot in summer with temperatures of 50-60 C
* W Europe is unlivable cold with blizzards and strong cold snaps in winter due to the Gulfstream shutdown which is a result of global warming while S Europe and SW USA are deserts with almost no rainfall and extreme hot in summer. Maybe NSW and VIC are much drier than now.
* The US south east coast and Queensland have several heavy floodings and rainfall every year, much more than in the 2020s.
* Super thunderstorms are getting common.
* Australia has a population of over 100-200 or maybe 500 million of which 50 million live in greater Sydney, mostly refugees, even from W Europe because it is a 'safe haven' compared to the overpopulated and ecological disaster infested northern hemisphere. The same may apply to Argentina and Chile.
* Brasil, Indonesia and Africa's rain forests are almost all slashed and burned. Queensland has the only primeval tropical rainforests (except from a few islands in Indian and Pacific Ocean) in the world.
* Light pollution is so bad that only Australia (excepy NSW/VIC/QLD), south of S America, Antarctica and the oceans can see the Milky Way
* Our dependency on technology is so severe that at disasters which occur more frequently cut people off from outside world, because a cashless economy and other trade and transport depend heavily on vulnerable technology. Power blackouts are getting more common due to extreme weather.
* Space travel is almost impossible due to much more space debris inhibits launching space vehicles beyond Low Earth Orbit.
* Cities are full of jammed cars, despite being electric. The enormous electrical power amounts mankind uses had implications, even if all is renewable. When large costal areas are filled with wind farms and more and more rivers inundate natural areas for hydropower.
* The ice free North Pole region is almost devoid of natural life because of oil drilling and shipping routes.
* Glaciers are only in the Himalaya and Antarcica. The Andes, EU Alps, Kilimanjaro and NZ Alps are without snow.
And beyond ? Maybe mankind wakes up when world population has shrunk < 1 billion. Otherwise mankind will extinct. Moving to other planets ? Not easy, as long as we are unable to keep Earth terraformed, we cannot terraforming Mars or Venus.
Pessimistic ? Well when we continue like we live now this maybe the world after 50 years.
Funny timing, as i heard this morning that rocket mans "visible demolition" of his old nuclear sites may just have been clearing the land for his new and better "block of flats" :-)
"Peace for our time" all over again???????
( After all, its almost that clangers 80th anniversary )
I don't expect I will be here at that time, but i reckon a deadly super disease will cleanse this planet with few remaining and/or as Lewis said a nuclear wasteland
Either way we will kill our self's off, its the young of today that will carry this burden.
The latest years there is lot of bad news about oceans overloaded with plastic waste, global warming, etc.
Warning: A Pessimistic view.
And to my opinion, unfortunately there are no signs of improvement. The Paris agreement on global warming, laws against deforestration slow down the deterioration of the environment a little.
Plastic packaging is still mass produced and despite government efforts (the EU plans to ban disposable plastics by 2030 which is way too late while the US is doing nothing), tropical forests in Brasil or Congo are shrinking faster than ever, a German and British research shows that insects numbers are shrunk by 1/3 since the 1970, while these are essential for all life on Earth.
When this continues and we (mostly the big corporations) have a mantra growth, growth, growth in this pace I guess the de-terraformed world in 2070 will look like:
* Less people in the world than now as many are died by disasters with extreme weather, wars on depleting water and other resources. And India, China and Africa getting more prosperous are exacerbating the running out resources.
* The Big Five in Africa are all extinct
* Middle East (e.g. Dubai) and India are unlivable hot in summer with temperatures of 50-60 C
* W Europe is unlivable cold with blizzards and strong cold snaps in winter due to the Gulfstream shutdown which is a result of global warming while S Europe and SW USA are deserts with almost no rainfall and extreme hot in summer. Maybe NSW and VIC are much drier than now.
* The US south east coast and Queensland have several heavy floodings and rainfall every year, much more than in the 2020s.
* Super thunderstorms are getting common.
* Australia has a population of over 100-200 or maybe 500 million of which 50 million live in greater Sydney, mostly refugees, even from W Europe because it is a 'safe haven' compared to the overpopulated and ecological disaster infested northern hemisphere. The same may apply to Argentina and Chile.
* Brasil, Indonesia and Africa's rain forests are almost all slashed and burned. Queensland has the only primeval tropical rainforests (except from a few islands in Indian and Pacific Ocean) in the world.
* Light pollution is so bad that only Australia (excepy NSW/VIC/QLD), south of S America, Antarctica and the oceans can see the Milky Way
* Our dependency on technology is so severe that at disasters which occur more frequently cut people off from outside world, because a cashless economy and other trade and transport depend heavily on vulnerable technology. Power blackouts are getting more common due to extreme weather.
* Space travel is almost impossible due to much more space debris inhibits launching space vehicles beyond Low Earth Orbit.
* Cities are full of jammed cars, despite being electric. The enormous electrical power amounts mankind uses had implications, even if all is renewable. When large costal areas are filled with wind farms and more and more rivers inundate natural areas for hydropower.
* The ice free North Pole region is almost devoid of natural life because of oil drilling and shipping routes.
* Glaciers are only in the Himalaya and Antarcica. The Andes, EU Alps, Kilimanjaro and NZ Alps are without snow.
And beyond ? Maybe mankind wakes up when world population has shrunk < 1 billion. Otherwise mankind will extinct. Moving to other planets ? Not easy, as long as we are unable to keep Earth terraformed, we cannot terraforming Mars or Venus.
Pessimistic ? Well when we continue like we live now this maybe the world after 50 years.
I hope I am completely wrong.
WE SHOULD CONSUME LESS
An excellent diagnosis.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LewisM
My opinion: radioactive wasteland. Won't matter a zot what the weather/oceans/atmosphere will be like.
This is a real possibility. Why? As larger areas of land become uninhabitable, the large countries (US, China and Russia) will fight to take control of them. Things will get nasty, with the attitude of "if we can't have it, then no one can". The global economy as we know it is unsustainable. We are already seeing the start of its failure. Population will drastically reduce due to wars and to the wealthy pricing the basics such as shelter, food and water beyond the realms of 95% of the population. A dystopian society will ensure that the people do not rise up against the powers that be. Australia will be particularly vulnerable and will be assimilated by the Chinese - resources, food, and potentially a still semi liveable habitat. If you think the US or UK will protect Australia, you are sorely naive and mistaken.
Quote:
Originally Posted by leon
I don't expect I will be here at that time, but i reckon a deadly super disease will cleanse this planet with few remaining and/or as Lewis said a nuclear wasteland
Either way we will kill our self's off, its the young of today that will carry this burden.
Leon
The best thing that can happen to us as a species, and the rest of the planet is a super virus that takes out 99% of the human global population. It is indeed possible (1918 flu outbreak as an example). There is growing evidence to suggest that any such super virus would probably be man made (if you think the US military isn't experimenting with such things, you are a FOOL).
As to thermonuclear war, it won't take much to pretty much wipe out the entire planet. Even as little as 100 medium sized nukes is enough to do the job. An interesting TED talk on the subject...
Pity to think that older generations not caring about our planet have pretty much ruined it for me and my generation in the future
The fact that older generations will die off before this becomes a major life altering issue is awful - its like not taking out the trash for a year then moving out, no questions asked, leaving the stinking pile of trash for the next person to clean.
Pity to think that older generations not caring about our planet have pretty much ruined it for me and my generation in the future
The fact that older generations will die off before this becomes a major life altering issue is awful - its like not taking out the trash for a year then moving out, no questions asked, leaving the stinking pile of trash for the next person to clean.
Pity to think that older generations not caring about our planet have pretty much ruined it for me and my generation in the future
The fact that older generations will die off before this becomes a major life altering issue is awful - its like not taking out the trash for a year then moving out, no questions asked, leaving the stinking pile of trash for the next person to clean.
Ohh, Don't you sit in the corner pointing the finger. Your generation is part of this.
Ask your parents/grand parents how they dried clothing, got their milk, carried the groceries out of supermarkets and even used public transport.
I sympathise with Logan and I think the younger generations should be very angry at the current caretakers of the planet. Who is responsible though?
My current view is that human populations are fairly dumb and easily manipulated by power hungry men. So who should we blame, the dumb voters or the psychopaths (CEO's and politicians) who control us?
In 50 years time - efficient batteries for cars negating the need for fossil fuels to power transport, nuclear fission reactors coming into fruition, clean up of the sea plastics completed.
Taxes on batteries and solar power being extortionate, still having no clue on what dark matter is, England still not winning a World Cup, 1000th McDonalds/Facebook/Google/BedsrUs disco ball "star for humanity" launched from NZ.
Everyday life will not change. Sport will still reign as the opium of the people. And when there is no sport, far too many people will use alcohol and drugs in excess to get away from it all.
There will be medical breakthroughs to extend life expectancy. These advances will be expensive and many oldies will be really bitter about going back to work to afford these.
Driverless cars will be mandatory. This will allow cars to follow each other with unbelievable small spaces between them. Roads will be able to carry 2 to 3 times their current volume with such technology. However, when it goes wrong, we will have our first crash of 10,000 vehicles.
Everybody will be really interested in fixing the environment. Currently, it is like that tooth pain that is ignored. However, the pain will explode as seafront esplanades disappear under the waves.
Oh, Astronomers will be very unpopular when viruses are brought back from Mars that start destroying our food chains.
Driverless cars will be mandatory. This will allow cars to follow each other with unbelievable small spaces between them. Roads will be able to carry 2 to 3 times their current volume with such technology. However, when it goes wrong, we will have our first crash of 10,000 vehicles.
I so look forward to this if I live long enough, not the crashing part of course but the autonomous cars thing, humans are so inefficient and careless with their driving.
1/ We get a VERY NASTY warning and take drastic steps to correct what we are doing.
2/ We make the planet unlivable for most species, including us.
3/ We linger for a while in a highly impoverished unstable state until we go into the night...
Either way, the planet endures, evolves and all traces of us are eventually erased.... except for a few bits drifting around the galaxy...
but i reckon a deadly super disease will cleanse this planet with few remaining 
and/or as Lewis said a nuclear wasteland 
