The crisis facing our plane is already here. People are living with climate change brought about by centuries of emitted greenhouse gases. However, the fight is not over yet. We can still choose to change our future and make it a better place.
But what if we fail to do it? Then a grim and dark place awaits us.
The Year 2100: The Worst Of Climate Crisis
This scenario is if we do nothing to prevent climate change for the rest of the 21st century. By then, temperatures around the globe have increased by more than 4C. In several countries, summer means every day having a temperature over 40C. For tropical countries, 50C is usual.
Every summer, there are raging wildfires in all continents apart from Antarctica. This leads to thick acrid smoke which makes the outside air unbreathable. Temperatures of ocean water have increased just as much as well. The Great Barrier Reef of Australia is officially dead.
Read: Coral Reef Destroyed By Climate Change; Immaculate Tropical Island In Ruins
Prolonged, frequent droughts repeatedly take place on vast stretches of land because of climate change. The deserts have increased in size, turning millions into climate refugees. About 3.5 billion are living in areas where there is severe water scarcity. Air is now also polluted by dust from farmlands which are now lay barren.
Every summer, all the sea ice of the Arctic is gone because of climate change. As such, the average temperature in the area has increased by more than 8C. The ice sheets in western Antarctica and Greenland are beginning to melt. This is making the sea level rise by an enormous amount.
Most glaciers in the mountains are completely gone by now. The plateau ice on the Himalayas is now mostly gone as well, reducing the water in the Yamuna, Brahmaputra, Ganges, and Indus rivers. More than 600 million depend on these rivers for water.
The raised temperature of ocean water has also added to its expansion. The sea level has increased by over 1 meter. Several of the biggest cities such as Miami, Rio de Janeiro, and Hong Kong are flooded to the extent that no one can live there. Small nations on islands like the Marshall Islands and the Maldives have long been abandoned due to climate change.
Most river and coastal areas are flooded regularly. This includes Thailand, the Rhine valley, and the Nile Delta. More than one-fifth of Bangladesh has been submerged permanently.
In winter, storms have far more energy and rain down even more volumes of water. This climate change causes widespread flooding and wind damage annually.
Mega-tropical cyclones, like Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, are a common occurrence. Wind speeds are more than 200 mph. Monsoons in south-east Asia have increased in intensity and unpredictability. More than 3 billion are affected by either too little or too much rain for the regions.
And As For Humans?
Water and food scarcity levels have increased across the planet because of climate change. The well-being and the health of billions are threatened. Extreme humidity and heat in the tropical and subtropical region have led to more days where working outside is impossible. Farm productivity has been drastically reduced as a result.
For temperate regions such as Europe, extreme weather has made the production of food highly unpredictable. Half of all present agricultural land can no longer be used. No one can estimate how much the remaining can produce each season. Yields from crops are the lowest since the 1950s.
Climate change has caused havoc in the stocks of fish. Ocean acidity has seen an increase of 125%. The food chain in the ocean has been forever destroyed in many regions. Many marine organisms which have calcium carbonate bases can no longer survive in these acidic waters.
Read: Doomsday Warnings For Humankind Issued By Over 15,000 Scientists
Despite medical science technology advancing, respiratory illnesses are the deadliest in the history of humans. Other diseases include diarrhea, cholera, malaria, and tuberculosis. Extreme events in weather cause millions to lose their lives, and many more are left without a home. The century has been plagued by disease epidemics. Widespread vulnerability and poverty have aided their spread.
So, what do you think of such a world? Imagine your children or grandchildren having to live their lives in this hellish place. Terrifying, is it not, what we are forcing them into? So please, let us all do our bits before it is too late before all is lost.
