Last night I watched a show that really, really bothered me. It was called 2100, an ABC News special broadcast. The premise of the show was following a fictional girl, named Lucy, through life as it might play out if some of the projections currently being made about climate change and other environmental problems turn out to be accurate. The segment claimed that these were "worst case" projections, but they seemed relatively moderate to me (at least until the end, which seemed a bit far-fetched). The effects of climate change, judged by melting sea ice and glaciers, seem to be outpacing even the most pessimistic assumptions. They did the segment with some good graphic-novel type of animation, which had a surprising impact on me.
The segment stuck with me because this could be the life of my kids. Stephen, like the character Lucy, was born in 2009. I really wonder what sort of world we are leaving behind for Nora, Andrew, and Stephen. Not a good one, I think. We've really trashed the place -- and it wasn't our place.
The projections are relatively familiar: Gas shortages and riots as oil demand vastly exceeds supply. Outer suburbs become vast slums as people abandon them to live closer to the cities (can't afford to drive). Water shortage in the American Southwest (bye, bye, Las Vegas) and in cities that depend on glacier run-offs. Water shortage and soaring cost of oil lead to food shortages and mass starvation in other countries. Thirsty and starving people destabilize national borders, populations move as islands and low-lying cities flood, leading to war and civil unrest. It is all very grim.
Now, this isn't the only scenario, and certainly the human race has avoided disaster before. There was never a nuclear war, for example, which was a prospect that used to terrify me as a kid. But, in that case, it was obvious that our short-term interest was in not getting blown up. That created restraint and, to some degree, wisdom. With these sorts of problems, our short-term "economic" interest lies in doing more of the same. Humanity has never shown much interest in thinking about long-term problems. I like to think we can avoid this, but governments (and I am looking at you US Senate) seem resistant to even the most modest measures of restraint. I hope somebody proves me wrong.
Here is the opening segment.
Earth 2100: Civilization at Crossroads
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2 comments:
So, I watched the clip and this really freaked me out. What night was this on? I need to see the rest of this...
Thanks for the clip, Bryan. We don't have TV right now so we hadn't heard anything about this. After I watched the clip, we searched high and low for the whole program and...found it! It made me think a lot. I want to be a good steward.
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