Something has been bothering me for some time now. It's a feeling that something very, very bad is right around the corner, and the more bits and pieces of news I read these days is doing nothing to alleviate the feeling. What if one of the reasons that some of the major power brokers in industry and government don't seem to care about the obvious common good, like universal health care, environmental concerns, and even growing the economy is that they know something that we don't know.? What if they know that anything we do now won't do any good because in maybe 50 to 100 years the world as we know it will look very different and very scary? Maybe they don't care because they know that it's only downhill from here and they might as well grab what they can and make a stash.
I've got four things on my long range radar that scare the hell out of me right now, and I'm worried that it's already too late to fix them before all hell breaks loose...
I'm thrilled that we've got a President moving forward with a progressive agenda, especially after the boy idiot Bush and his criminal cronies... but I'm worried we're already way past too late to stop a world-wide decline in civilization. Here's what keeps me up at night...
1.Global warming leading to Ocean Levels Rising. I've read plenty in the media and on the Internet about the predictions on sea level rise. Maybe the predictions are way off, but it seems to me that every time I turn around, the predictions get worse. Since the majority of Earth's human population lives near the coasts, imagine what will happen when humans are forced to migrate inland. Imagine most of Florida gone... Imagine NYC uninhabitable... Imagine New Orleans lost forever. These are all bad things that might happen sooner than we think. The U.S. just might be able to deal with this, but I can't see how many 3rd world nations will.
2.Peak Oil – Although alternative energy technology (Pollywell reactor anyone?) may help the US in a few years, most of the world still runs on fossil fuels. Once oil production peaks, and some say we're at that point now, assuming the world economy gets back on track in the next year or two and consumption ramps back up, we'll see a lot of tension between the haves and have-nots in fossil fuel production. We've already had 2 wars over oil... imagine how it will be when easily accessible oil really does start to run low.
3.Water Shortages – Similar to the disparity between those that have oil and those that consume it, the usage of potable water continues to go up, while supplies go down. Changing climates coupled with industrial, agricultural and consumer demand could lead to additional conflicts all over water rights and water usage. The Middle East is ripe for this sort of thing getting out of control.
4.Population Explosion – This is the one that scares me the most, because it compounds everything else AND because NO ONE is talking about it! The charts I've seen that show human population continuing to expand unchecked. Things are going to get VERY bad when there's not enough FOOD plus water, energy and land for us all . Once we can't produce enough for the general population, I'm afraid we'll see increases in conflict and tragedy in unimaginable scales.
So.. what if the powers to be have already decided it's too late? What if they know that global warming will cause a massive shift in population centers? Maybe they believe rebuilding New Orleans is a waste of time since it will be underwater 50 to 100 years anyway... What if they know that all the easy to get at oil is already tapped? That water shortages are just around the corner where we'll have entire regions migrating away from dried up areas? And worse, what if they know that in 50 – 100 years the earth's population won't be able to feed itself. So they're going to grab all they can now before it's gone.
Could this time NOW be the pinnacle of civilized mankind's achievement? What if we're really on the brink of multiple, simultaneous and irreversible world-wide catastrophes? - I'd like to think that technology can help us through this, but until I hear President Obama discussing realistic, global, long term ways to reduce the population boom and the effects overpopulation has on trying to solve our other problems, I'll stay afraid for us all, and especially our children. I hope I'm wrong on this, but I've not found solid reasons to be optimistic.