Disclaimer: as this article is discussing the future, there is no guarantee as to what will actually happen. These are simply predictions made based on the data that we have today but the actual outcome can vary based on a number of different factors.
Last time we established that 2050 will most likely be the “turning point” in the climate crisis. But what will the world actually look like in 2050? Essentially, there are two possible future scenarios: good, or not-so-good. Let’s start off with the not-so-good. Please note that the following scenarios are going to be overly pessimistic, just to help you get a clearer picture of the crisis we are currently facing - the future (hopefully) won’t actually be this bad!
In this very non-ideal future, there will be no progress on the development of renewable energy and fossil fuels will continue to dominate the energy system. Temperatures will rise 2°C above pre-industrial levels and the atmosphere will be the thinnest it has ever been. There will be a global shortage of food and clean water, with poorer areas of the world suffering more than others - this will take the form of starvation and the spread of diseases due to the lack of proper sanitation, which could ultimately lead to death. The changing climate will also affect weather patterns, causing more frequent and more severe natural disasters such as heatwaves, forest fires, flooding and droughts. Climate patterns such as El Niño and La Niña will occur more frequently, further impacting the weather. As a result, many will be forced to migrate; in fact, it is believed that climate change will become one of the biggest causes for mass migration. The increased air pollution from burning fossil fuels will impact human health, particularly in terms of respiratory diseases, which could also cause many deaths. Another huge problem created by rising temperatures is the melting of polar ice caps, which, if all of the ice melts, will cause global sea levels to rise around 70 metres. This will entirely submerge many islands and flood several major low-lying cities around the world, which will cause population displacement on an unprecedented scale.
Aside from the social impacts of climate change, the environment will also be very different. Crops will suffer from the changing climate; some crops such as rice won’t be able to survive more than a 2°C increase in temperature and will result in widespread crop failure. This will have a detrimental impact on the global food system and require a shift in crop production to areas that can still support agriculture which will become more and more scarce. Almost no coral will be left in our oceans, greatly impacting the marine ecosystems and causing the loss of many marine creatures. Deforestation to make room for development will worsen the effects of climate change even further and also lead to the extinction of countless more species, potentially causing entire ecosystems to collapse as well as causing a massive drop in biodiversity.
And the scariest part of this worst-case scenario is that we can already start to see some of these changes happening today. Now, as mentioned before, the future won’t actually be this bad. The situations have been over-exaggerated to help you better understand why the climate crisis is a problem and why solutions need to be developed. But, even if they aren’t as extreme, all of the problems mentioned above will almost certainly be present in the future to some extent, and that extent will entirely depend on us and what we decide to do in the present.
So what would be a more realistic portrayal of the future? Find out in our next article!
Credits:
Image - World Animal Protection
Information - OECD, Law Society of England and Wales, USGS
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