Week 8 - Global Warming - Travis Suggitt

The Time Cruise Ship

Upon announcing the place of our next stop, 5,000 years into the future, the first commercial voyage of a time cruise ship launched, with me at the helm. Considering that I uncovered earth’s chronology between today and 7020 while testing this new technology, I am also the cruise’s educational representative. Upon reaching Miami, I announce over the loudspeaker:

Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve landed in Miami. The city now rests more than 100 feet below the surface. Rising sea levels covered the city, and by the end of your century, Miami was uninhabitable. After many generations of inaction, so too was earth. Kick-started by immense CO2 generation, region after region ecologically deteriorated creating an influx of refugees to climate stable countries. Fear of economic downturn turned into disdain for climate refugees. Nationalists gained power in many countries on the promise of closed borders. Solutions were present long before a positive feedback loop took over: closer living quarters, veganism, ending consumerism, prohibition of burning fossil fuels. In short, a universal lifestyle reduction. New ideas were introduced as technology expanded. But all solutions needed global effort, an incompatible idea with the new nationalism.

Miami's skyline, 7020 (Fioreze, 2008)

At some point a natural feedback loop took over, solutions no longer mattered. Surface ice disappeared which decreased earth’s albedo, reflecting less radiation from the surface. Permafrost followed suit, releasing large amounts of methane causing less radiation to leave earth, further warming the planet. Sea levels continued to rise due to thermal expansion. Plants and animals went extinct, each species relying on each other more than humans realized. With no pollinators, crop choice became limited. Entire regions would have their food supply destroyed by a single pest. The event that humans jump started became the reason for their demise.

Shortly after docking in 2020, the investors stopped funding my company. Apparently the passengers thought I had scammed them because we only saw the open ocean, claiming that our time travel was a lie. This marked the first and last voyage of a time cruise ship.

Photo Reference:

Fioreze, T. (2008, April 7). File:Clouds over the Atlantic Ocean.jpg in Wikimedia Commons.  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clouds_over_the_Atlantic_Ocean.jpg