Pricey 2019: A Letter From The Future
Pricey 2019,
I do know you have had some tough years not too long ago. You have had heatwave after heatwave, and the world simply is not transferring quick sufficient to attempt to restrict the catastrophic results of local weather change.
Though you have identified about local weather change, and the consequences of greenhouse gases, for over a century, truly limiting carbon has thus far been a token effort at finest.
You are at the moment on a precipice; one other few years of enterprise as regular, and you would be taking a look at big losses of wildlife, properties, and even people.
I do know you are already seeing among the big tolls the warmth is having on the world.
However Earth is extra united than you assume. A lot of the world is conscious of local weather change and many individuals are scared about how it should have an effect on you into the long run.
All hope will not be misplaced.
What you are feeling has been constructing for various years, and also you’re on the cusp of one thing life-changing.
After a very terrifying IPCC report, and continuous protests throughout the planet, world leaders lastly accepted that they can not proceed with burning fossil fuels the best way you had been.
Our little blue marble (and all the pieces that lives there) trusted it.
With fast adjustments beginning in Europe and radiating outwards, renewables had been adopted with growing effectivity.
The expertise wasn’t good to start out with, however with funding and analysis it saved getting higher. Quickly our planet was powered with a mixture of wind, solar, hydro, and a few nuclear energy.
With this push, people managed to maintain temperatures below 2 levels of warming, if solely by a smidge.
The Paris settlement, which everybody thought can be a catastrophe, truly got here to fruition.
The final coal plant closed in 2068 – it is now lengthy been a relic, just like the steam engine or phone field.
Our vehicles are powered with hydrogen gasoline, and internationally the air we breathe now could be the cleanest it has been for the reason that industrial revolution.
However even with solely two levels of warming there have been nonetheless a whole lot of points to cope with. We misplaced total islands as a result of sea stage rise, and there have been big numbers of local weather refugees. We misplaced species after species, and a big chunk of the Nice Barrier Reef.
However with out the fast adjustments made within the 2020’s, the state of affairs would have been catastrophically worse.
Your youngsters and grandchildren thanks for that.
Now, within the 12 months 2089, there are different issues and struggles. Even future people aren’t good. However we glance again on the manner you dealt with local weather change as a beacon and instance.
You are able to do it. We’re all rooting for you.
Yours,
2089
This text was initially printed as a part of ScienceAlert’s particular local weather version, printed in help of the worldwide #ClimateStrike on 20 September 2019.