Homework 8

1)

I think the show Earth 2100 takes the current (and currently predicted) problems as a basis to present a worst-case scenario vision of the future.

My predictions on things will be up to 2100 would certainly include things like global warming (and the resultant climate change), the scarcity of currently abundant resources, increased population growth, etc.  However, I don’t think that all of these issues are going to come to a head, all at once, and all to the worst degree possible.  I think that all these things might eventually happen, but it will be at a little bit slower pace than the show predicts, since I don’t think it will happen all at once.  I think some of the scenarios they showed, such as the future of Las Vegas, will happen, but this is localized to areas that are already in distress.  I think that other areas will be able to hold on longer than predicted in this show.  Also, I think (or rather, hope) that by that time we will come up with some better solutions to all these issues than are presented in the show.  I think that, as the last part of the show indicated, we will develop and implement some better ways of creating energy and thereby avoiding the worst-case scenario.

2)

This show actually relates to my topic very well, since it is predicting what the future might be like, and that is the same thing I had asked the people in my survey to do.  Of the scenarios proposed by this show, I think most of them were at least mentioned once by the participants in the surveys.

  For example:  several of the 9^th graders predicted that houses would have to be able to float in order to cope with increased flooding in the future.  Also, some mentioned that houses have to be built stronger in order to withstand the more extreme weather (hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.).  So the concept of climate change in the future seems to be a very familiar one, at least to the younger group of survey takers. 

The older groups focused more on the need to be energy efficient, and more reliant on alternative resources.  A large portion of people predicted that houses in the future would all be energy efficient, or “green”, the same way this show predicted the apartment Lucy and her family lived in in New York.  Also, the concept of growing your own food was predicted by a couple of survey-takers. Some of the participants also predicted that society might change as a result of scarcity of resources and the extreme and devastating change in climate.  A couple of people mentioned that there would be wars over resources and food, as seen in the show, and that we would live underground to avoid the extreme climate, etc.  Some also proposed that societies would de-volve due to the lack of resources (such as using animal-pulled vehicles).

Several people also had a more positive outlook, comparable to the last portion of the show.  They predicted that in the future, we will be relying on “green” technology, and imply that we will have found ways to create our energy that are sustainable and do not involve fossil fuels.  They talk about how houses will be self-sustaining (using waste to make energy, for example), and smaller.

It seems that people are aware of the problems we will be facing in the future.  Some people are more aware of the difficulties that lie in solving these, and therefore predict a more “bleak” future.  Others are more optimistic and assume that at some point we will have the technology to overcome issues such as resource depletion and energy crisis, and that we will be able to focus our technological advances on providing comfort and convenience.