Earth 2100: Our Inevitable Future? or How to Avoid Global Warming’s Impacts through Action
Tonight, ABC will air a special called Earth 2100, portraying our collective futures through choices leading us to two doors.
Door No. 1 shows our current path, what scientists and policy makers call “business as usual.” The ABC special will show how continuing on this path throughout this century will result in the “perfect storm” of population growth, resource depletion and global warming, all converging to cause catastrophic results for humanity and the planet.
Yet the television special will also imagine an alternative future through door No. 2. Experts describe the actions we can take to avoid the catastrophic results of a changing climate from harnessing renewable energy to conserving energy to sustaining local food systems and other choices.
Come back tomorrow and post a comment to share what you thought of the special and how you are making personal and professional choices leading us towards door No. 2.
Tags: clean tech, climate change, global warming, renewable energy
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I only caught part of the Earth 2100 special - I was pretty intrigued by it. Even though the narrative was kind of melodramatic, it was an important exercise to go through. The effects of global warming can be intangible and hard to conceptualize, especially for those of us who aren’t scientists. And it was encouraging to imagine citizens working together to try out solutions to things like sea level rise and alternative transportation methods. I liked the mega-car transport system train thing?!
So did it have a happy ending?
Comment by Meegan on June 5, 2009 11:57 am
I would suggest the ending was ‘unwritten’ as it were — our present and future choices can help write a happy ending. While the narrative *was* kind of melodramatic at times, I particularly liked the positive messages of clean energy = well-paying green jobs shared by Van Jones, founder of Green for All and currently the Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. For those of you who missed the special, you can watch individual segments under ‘Watch Video” on this page: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Earth2100/story?id=7678011&page=1
Comment by Jennifer Rennicks on June 5, 2009 1:35 pm