The world in 2050
If we do not take any action against the latent threat of climate change, the environment will be so disturbed that by the year 2050 our daily lives could be extremely disruptive. Let’s see what that scenario would be like, and another totally opposite.
We need a 50% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030, another 50% by 2040, another 50% by 2050 ”, says Rivett-Carnac, if we achieve that goal the world in 2050 will be very different.
Source: Meteored
What would life look like in 2050, if we do nothing to stop climate change?
That’s a question most climate scientists are trying to answer. How can you imagine the answers show very difficult future scenarios, in some cases even catastrophic. However, if there is no progress in slowing greenhouse gases (GHG) to mitigate climate change, daily life on our planet will be quite complicated.
Suppose it is the year 2050 and we have done nothing to stop global warming, climate change has finally been fulfilled with the worst case scenario; then the air is polluted and makes you cough, you have to check the air quality even before opening a window. When you go out on the street your eyes water, you have to wear a mask to protect yourself from contamination, even some days the level is so high that you will need a high-tech mask (if you can afford it, of course).
The #NetZero2050Roadmap sets out pathways showing a net-zero energy sector is possible. But most #NDCs submitted to @UNFCCC feature energy-related targets, measures & policies that don't match up to what science says is needed, says @WWF's @manupulgarvidal https://t.co/DpTrVRC8Re pic.twitter.com/PlZxhFkaup
— WWF Climate & Energy (@climateWWF) May 18, 2021
In addition, depending on where you live, the temperature can reach 60 ºC for more than a month a year. In public toilets you have to pay to use the water. There is a mental cost to living in a world that feels like a dangerous obstacle course. People feel bottomless despair, and resent previous generations for their inaction.
The globe had the 9th warmest April in the 142-year-old record of @NOAANCEIclimate
Even though it was the coolest April since 2013, it was still the 45th consecutive April and 436th month with temperatures above 20th-century average#ClimateChange
➡️https://t.co/ZHosqHxsl1 pic.twitter.com/ZllXnhWjCe— World Meteorological Organization (@WMO) May 14, 2021
These and several other details are described by Karen Christiana Figueres Olsen and Thomas Charles Rivett-Carnac (two key architects of the Paris Agreement), in their book “The Future We Choose: The Stubborn Optimist’s Guide to the Climate Crisis”, they try to tell what life on Earth would look like if measures to mitigate the strong changes that are looming are not advanced.
The @IEA Net Zero Report, financing #NetZero + corporate transition in this week's Signals Amidst the Noise.
Read or share👇https://t.co/YUibITdSpC pic.twitter.com/EdGjwRQEVT— Global Optimism (@GlobalOptimism) May 19, 2021
Christiana Figueres is a Costa Rican anthropologist, economist and analyst, she was appointed on May 17, 201 as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Tom Rivett-Carnac is a political lobbyist for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and author of Climate Change Policy.
Two different futures
There is a debate among climate experts about how dire the situation would be by 2050, as some elements may be more likely than others. For example, Peter Smith, professor of soils and global change at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, explains that “Air pollution and emissions that cause climate change go hand in hand, so less action on climate change it will mean worse air quality. ”In addition, it indicates that“ it is debatable whether the air gets so bad that people will have to wear masks in 2050, and it should be possible to provide clean water without climate action ”.
Los gases de efecto invernadero y la contaminación atmosférica estarán bajo los focos durante la #ClimateWeekLAC.
Únete para conocer más sobre las herramientas de la OMM para la #AcciónClimática y la #CalidadDelAire pic.twitter.com/hMKrrkbvQ8
— World Meteorological Organization (@WMO) May 12, 2021
While we are already seeing some positive moves to reduce GHG emissions, we are still a long way from the target and there is much more to do. Still, such an extreme situation proposed by Figueres and Carnac “is not outside the realm of a worst-case scenario in which we refuse, as a civilization, to take meaningful action on the climate,” says Michael E. Mann. , professor of atmospheric sciences at Penn State and director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center. “If we can quickly decarbonize our economy to near zero by mid-century, we can maintain a livable planet and a vibrant economy at the same time,” says Mann.
To avoid this dark future, the world must cut greenhouse gas emissions in half every decade from now, according to Figueres and Rivett-Carnac. In fact, “we need a 50% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030, another 50% by 2040, another 50% by 2050,” says Rivett-Carnac, if we achieve that goal the world in 2050 will be very different.
These are the staggering numbers behind building a green future.
Discover what we need to do to get there: https://t.co/RHdc1nE7mV pic.twitter.com/qxbJPJ55L1
— World Economic Forum (@wef) May 19, 2021
In that ideal future with the goals met, the city streets will have more trees and fewer cars, and Americans will be able to travel through high-speed electric railways, even the air will be “cleaner than before the Industrial Revolution.” , the authors write. Instead of fossil fuels, countries will depend on things like renewable energy (geothermal, wind, solar, and hydro), as Figueres and Rivett-Carnac explain in their book. On the other hand, artificial intelligence in machines and household appliances will make them more energy efficient.
Future or utopia
The book’s authors describe a 2050 with changes that are hard to imagine, but that many colleagues agree could be real, not just a dream or wish.
They describe a scenario where people would stop eating meat and dairy, and young children would have a hard time believing that we used to kill animals for food.
They optimistically explain in their book, that people will eat locally sourced products from community farms, rather than buying from large grocery stores, where everything must be shipped long distances to reach supermarket shelves.
Of course, the dichotomy between the 2050 versions of Figueres and Rivett-Carnac is stark and impressive, that’s exactly the point. “Our future is not written, it will be shaped by who we choose to be now,” they say.
