Earth Will Be Unlivable and Humans Doomed to Extinction! (The Conversation, Australia)
The temperature on planet Earth can reach critical indicators for human life, scientists predict. According to new data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change at the UN, there is a high likelihood of an increase in temperature on Earth by 2.7 degrees by 2100. This will lead to catastrophic consequences, according to The Conversation.
Changes in temperature will lead to the fact that fires, hurricanes, droughts, floods, heat will become commonplace. Also, according to experts, there will be profound changes in the earth and water surfaces. Carbon emissions are said to be the main reason for this change.
How will events develop in the future? There are three hypothetical scenarios: low mitigation of global warming effects, medium and high, in line with the Paris Agreement to reduce the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from 2020.
In the first two scenarios, temperatures will start to rise after 2100. Vegetation and cultivated area will move to the poles, and the area suitable for growing a number of crops will decrease. Some areas, such as the Amazon Basin, will become uninhabitable. It can get so hot that it will be impossible to live in tropical regions.
In a scenario with a high level of climate change mitigation, the sea level will continue to rise and over the next 500 years the planet will change beyond recognition and this will threaten the survival of humans as a species.
Amazon
The top picture shows the traditional settlement of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon before their contact with civilization (about 1500 AD) – a settlement with access to a river and surrounded by a rainforest, where people cultivated various crops. The middle picture shows the modern landscape. The bottom drawing dates back to around 2500 and shows a desert area and a river with very low water levels as a result of deforestation. Infrastructure is scarce or decayed, and human activity is minimal.
Midwest USA
The image in the top figure is based on data on cities and settlements of indigenous peoples before colonization: agriculture was characterized by diversity and was based on the cultivation of corn. The second figure is the same area today and is characterized by the cultivation of one crop using large agricultural machinery. The last picture shows the result of adaptation to a hot and humid subtropical climate, with an emphasis on the cultivation of oil palms and succulents in arid zones. The plantations are looked after by drones equipped with artificial intelligence and human presence is minimal.
Indian subcontinent
The top picture shows a scene from the life of a bustling agricultural village – planting rice, caring for livestock and interaction between people. The middle image is a scene from modern life, depicting a mixture of traditional rice cultivation practices and modern infrastructures present in many parts of the Global South. The graphic below depicts the future of high-temperature adaptation technologies – including robotic farming and green housebuilding with minimal human presence, driven by the need for personal protective equipment.
