The end of human civilisation as we know it is predicted to arrive at around 2050 according to scientists. Well that guess may have been a tad conservative because there are some parts of our green(ish) earth that are literally too hot for humans to live in.
2019 has seen some intense heat waves descend upon areas in India and resulted in over 100 deaths due to water shortages. While heat waves are normal in India and take place between March and July before the monsoon season hits, climate change has meant that these heat waves are getting longer, more frequent (there were 484 in 2018 compared to “only” 21 in 2010), and more intense.
Sadly for us humans, there seems to be no quick fix for this either. Experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are saying that the current trend of rising temperatures mean that areas in South Asia, particularly India, China, Nepal and Zimbabwe, will be essentially unlivable soon even if the world miraculously manages to cut carbon emissions.
That’s not to say that everyone should be adopt a mentality of “eh, the world is screwed so let’s not bother”.
MIT took a look at two plausible temperature rise scenarios presented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): a rise of 2.25 degrees Celsius by 2100 and a rise of 4.5 degrees Celsius by 2100, both of which exceed the Paris Agreement target of 2 degrees.
If the former scenario happens, South Asia will still be okay, albeit in serious trouble.
But if the latter scenario happens – and it’s entirely plausible – then a lot of places in South Asia, like India’s Chota Nagpur Plateau, Bangladesh, and northern Sri Lanka will exceed the limits of survivabilty or get dangerously close to it.
The solution to mitigate this dire problem is to cut our carbon emissions dramatically and shift towards renewable energy, all while crossing our fingers in hope that this will be enough.
However, that solution is proving to be the unstoppable force going up against the unmovable object that is people in power not doing anything useful to fight climate change. The Lorax predicted the end of the world but he probably didn’t expect it to go quite this way.
Best get that bunker all ready to go and start stashing away a lot of drinkable water because you’re probably going to need it when your backyard either becomes lava or when your house disappears underwater.