Week 8 - Global Warming in the Future

Visiting the Los Angeles Bay

The Los Angeles Bay circa 7018

It seems that everyone was right, climate change was not only real but precipitated by an increase in human factors. We decided to check out the West Coast, specifically Los Angeles to really see the effects of the ice caps that melted. Back in 2018, it was expected that the average global temperature would rise by 2.5 to 10 degrees within 100 years. On a whim, we dialed the machine to 5000 years into the future. This was probably a bit too aggressive, as it seems that humankind couldn't bring themselves to science over posting selfies. I digress...

We had known that carbon dioxide levels were increasing at a rate of 100 to 200 percent more than what was recorded from the last ice age. Modern industry, deforestation, and melting ice caps all contributed to this. While countries like China had been invested in green technologies, there wasn't enough interest from Western societies to really propel the movement forward. Bad politics aside, increased coal consumption and tapping reserved fossil fuels greatly increased the rate of carbon dioxides, methanes, and other harmful gases.

Super hurricane

The problem didn't just stop there though. With an increase in global temperatures, more severe weather pummeled the planet. At some point, massive hurricanes from the Northeast Pacific basin tracked more and more northward. Very little civilization exists along the Californian coastline here in 7018, partly because of the elongated hurricane season, increased frequency of events, and severities of the systems.

With increased temperatures and water vapor in the atmosphere from melting ice caps, an increase in cloud cover was observed. This doesn't seem very significant, but keep in mind that cloud cover acts as an insulator. With increased insulation, local temperature trends increase and pollutants build up. From what I see over Los Angeles in 7018, a thick grey blanket of stratus stretches as far as the eye can see. Beneath it, yellowish haze, trapped with nowhere to go until the next major weather system pushes it out.

Ls Angeles submerged

After returning from 7018 Los Angeles, I had to reflect on our responsibilities to this planet. We only get one planet, there is no substitute (Mars is still a poor backup, and hardly one that can support the world population). We must take proper measure to curb our carbon dioxide output, and increase the ability to absorb it safely (naturally or artificially). Without getting control of this problem now, there is no going back.