Health Catastrophe
Scene 1: Year 2020, Average Global temperature up by 3 C.
Britain has again experienced a malaria outbreak, for the third time in two years. Studies show that the situation this time is even graver than what was faced in Netherlands during malaria epidemic in 1950. Alerts have been raised across all European countries on probable outbreak of certain insect-borne diseases. Doctors and scientists are equally baffled as the common man. The governments are unable to pacify this panic situation.
Scientists blame it on a sudden rise in temperature. The temperature, which has shot up globally by 3 degrees C, is seen as the main culprit. Deadly temperatures have significantly extended favorable zones of vectors transmitting deadly infectious diseases as dengue fever, West Nile Virus, and malaria. Shockingly, Europe is finding itself in a situation, which a decade ago was intimidating only to developing countries. It may have also contributed in increasing the respiratory and cardiac problems, which have been on the rise for the last few years. It’s also becoming a challenge for doctors to make the vulnerable cardiovascular system keep the body cool during these extreme weather conditions.
Food Crisis
Scene 2: Year 2030, Rate of greenhouse emission 5.2 percent.
The world leaders at G 40 summit have agreed upon the $5 trillion stimulus package to reinstate the world food system, which is on the brink of collapsing. Hundreds of thousands of people are dying every week of starvation in Sub-Saharan Africa. The UN reports suggest that rate of undernourished people in developing countries has doubled since 1990, even after it improved for more than a decade. Asian tropical and subtropical countries have reported 10 percent fall in agricultural yields this year itself.
Food crisis is being experienced in rich countries as well, where there has been 6 percent fall in the yield. All this has led to a shocking rise in child mortality rate even in US and Europe due to malnutrition. Further, excessive salt-water intrusion has already made fresh water availability a major problem across the globe and has only intensified the already worsening food problem.
Scientist say the world is replicating what was projected 20 years back. The current rate of greenhouse emission is 5.2 percent as opposed to 3.1 by 2006. In the event of such high greenhouse emissions, dramatic climatic changes took place over past few decades. The resulting extreme weather conditions kept on multiplying the pressure on already over-exploited natural resources besides massive forest fires. Hence, the pace with which greenhouse emissions increased between 2000 and 2010 had already been laying ground for the doomed 2030. Unchecked over-exploitation of natural resources in the past two decades, despite warnings from environmentalists and scientists, has resulted in this worst food crisis ever.
Floods
Scene3: Year 2040, 2m rise in the sea level
The UNO has announced this day as the ‘International Mourning Day’ with death toll in Southern Florida floods reaching 500,000. Population across Washington, New York and California has been temporarily moved to inland areas fearing potential flood threat to these regions with unstopping sea level rise. The past one month has seen probably the most devastating times of this decade. 10 years back Maldives lost its presence completely, signaling the world of what was coming ahead, but not much heed was given to it. Unfortunately, it was too late by then for Mumbai, Vietnam and the Bahamas. The mass destruction caused by recent floods in these regions will be echoing throughout this century. That is if the world survives till that time.
Rapid breakup of Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets in the past few years has caused dramatic rise in the sea level, which has gone up to 2m. Globally, 70 million people have already lost their lives in the past one month and this is just the tip of the iceberg, the only surviving one.
Amazon Rainforests Reach Their Tipping Point
Scene 4: Year 2050 Unending Miseries of Brazil
Stranded masses in Brazil have lost every hope for any relief. The worst-ever drought of the century doesn’t seem to end. Arid northeast is just left with dead trees, dusty plains, rocks and scrubs. Whatever a handful of communities that remained in this impoverished region are now too fragile to even abandon their lands. The climatic stress is most devastating in the Southern areas, where 30 million inhabitants are not only struggling for their livelihood but are also dying of starvation. Even a drop of water is hard to find. The rest of country is no better because unending destruction has landed it into irreparable economic despair.
Quite to the contrary, Southern Brazil at one time used to flourish with modern agriculture and high rains. In 1982-83, the region had experienced extensive floods. And now, it’s completely the other way round, that people 70 years ago wouldn’t have imagined even in their wildest dreams. Unfortunately, the situation now is irreversible.
Amazon that accounted for half of the world’s rainforests, almost three-quarters the size of Australia has converted into a deadly desert. Do we even need an explanation now when even after repeated warnings from scientific community we decided for “ development” over saving “snake-filled forests”. Brazil is not the only one to suffer the consequences of Amazon desertification, but the whole world is paying the price. Rainforests, the largest carbon-sink does not exist any more; there’s nothing to absorb greenhouse gases. How long can we escape the approaching flames? Count that in weeks now, if not in days.