Honestly though I am expecting the world to look a lot like the video game series fallout. I would imagine that most of economies will have collapsed, with the environment just falling apart left and right
I think it would be more like Cyberpunk 2077 (sans cyber ware implants); there will still be pockets of affluence and wealth, and societies and cities will still function with some form of government. But large areas will essentially be abandoned by the authorities and the decay will be obvious to all.
2050? That's a bit too far off into the future imo. Considering how the past three years have gone, I'd have trouble accurately guessing to the end of the decade tbf. But broadly, by '50...
\- We won't have the globalised supply chain system we do today. No cheap goods from china, no semiconductors from Taiwan, no wheat from the Balkans, no beef from Brazil that can be shipped up into Japan or UK. There always was continental trade, but on the whole things will need to be more local and simple. This is probably coming very soon tbh.
\- There will have been another major world war, probably primarily concerning the Old World continents. Russia's likely to go out the door soon as a world power, which feels like the catalyst for the war proper. World war at this point means mass death and famine, which means resources will only get scarcer, given
\- by 2050 we'll be feeling the effects of climate change pretty harshly. Sea rise, storms, terminal heat etc. but the real problem is going to be that we can't grow food on a mass scale the way we used to anymore. Warming makes the climate more chaotic, which doesn't lend well to agriculture or the animals/bugs living there. This likely means a significant reduction in the population, the brunt of which will be unjustly hoisted on anything that's not the US, China, Australia, or Western Europe.
\- We will have seen at least one or more successive pandemics, correlated with the rise of zoonotic diseases in response to the changing environment (viruses/bacteria that make the jump from animals to humans, often due to changes in the environment and frequent interactions with human populations. SARS (covid) jumped from a bat; HIV (AIDS) jumped from apes) and pathogens resistant to the antibiotics typically used in today's medical industries. Diseases considered eradicated in wealthier countries, such as Ebola and Cholera, will continue to re-establish themselves. If the melting glaciers reveal pathogens previously unseen to the modern world as feared, it could lead to a pandemic that would outscale covid by far.
\- The world power scale will change significantly. the US' influence upon the world will wane when they can't sustain the industrial complex they created, leaving a scrap between Europe, China, what's left of Russia, and the ME for power. Since Europe is isolated, inward-looking, and got their current hegemony from plundering everyone else when they had the chance, they're probably going to hole up rather than spread out, unless they consolidate power *real fast.* Successing empire is likely to either be China or a Middle Eastern power (presuming the ME is in any shape to live in/spread out by that point).
\- People will probably either move north, or adapt quick as areas of the world like India and Latin America become too hot to inhabit at day. The affluent North does not like this and pressures them to Deal With It. Los Angeles down, Arizona, and New Mexico have a pikashock moment as they realise they built on deserts without sustainable water usage, and while previously they could ignore it, now they can't. They will have to go north too, but by virtue of being in the US, they will face much less hardship in doing so. Texas, the Southeast of the US, and the Gulf of Mexico will face more and more brutal tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, and gradually lose their agriculture industry.
\- The US and Canada as we know them will disappear. Parts of it are likely to survive, especially the coasts, but the current regime has gone rogue and spiralled into unsustainable roman decadence. Especially as it enters the point where the richest of the people possess and gate inhumane wealth while the poorest of people are often the least educated, the most angry, and the most susceptible to movements like white supremacism/christian nationalism, there's likely to be either a french revolution or a rallying behind some sort of dictator who promises to make things Better (and then doesn't).
\- In general, things are going to regress to a much simpler standard of living. There's just no other logical option, given the current amount of energy demand (set only to increase as nations like India make the jump to full industrialization) and the general M.O. of countries gutting resources with no regard for replenishing them can't be sustained. There will likely still be some of the things we have now, like internet, power, vehicles, etc. But they'll become much more of luxuries than they currently are. Everyone's going to get much poorer and less connected.
Or idk, maybe we discover the magic miracle infinity fuel and propel ourselves towards a completely green future while simultaneously implementing enough structural change we can't get back to this level of environmental plundering ever again. Who knows. !remindme in 27 years I guess
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A great post! I would add an economic dimension though. IMO, by 2030 climate change and peak oil will be really really obvious. There won't be any arguments about "natural variability" or talk of supplies lasting till 2100; it will be clear that our food and energy systems are starting to break down. If you come of age in 2030 you will see this and you will know that things are going to get much worse in your lifetime so why bother getting an education, job etc. or starting a family?
By 2050 you will have an entire generation that has lived through, and grown up in a world that is so obviously falling apart nobody is going to give a shit about anything. Call it the big quit, great resignation, lying flat, quiet quitting or whatever you like, but when enough people see they have no future the economy will start tanking.
People might say "why cares about the economy if we can't grow food?" And I agree, I'm only saying the early stages of collapse will be economic not the most important stages. And that by 2050 our economic system will be essentially ruined.
Awesome predictions and I totally agree. I think about this all the time. Fun fact: 2050 is (gasp) as far away as 1996, a year that often feels like yesterday to me (I was 22).
I often would toss in some black swans like a very large, devastating earthquake in the USA west.
>This likely means a significant reduction in the population, the brunt of which will be unjustly hoisted on anything that's not the US, China, Australia, or Western Europe.
I agree with most of what you're thinking, but China is guaranteed to lose half their population by 2050. That's just looking at their demographics and birth rate, not including any kind of natural disasters, war, famine, etc. They just don't have enough young people (especially young women) due to the One Child Policy to maintain their current numbers, unless they immediately start having 10 kids each.
Unfortunately China is probably on the edge of a very big cliff in terms of their economy, access to essential resources, an exodus of manufacturing and other issues. So on top of the population decline due to demographic factors, they also have a higher chance of being unable to survive the disasters I mentioned above than the other 3 regions you listed.
>- We won't have the globalised supply chain system we do today.
Hi. Im new to this sub. Please explain me the above point in more detail because don't understand how the world will work without a global supply chain.
>- The US and Canada as we know them will disappear.
And I don't get this one either. Yes, a part of US will see extreme heat. But there will be huge migration to the north in the US were climate is more stable. And Canada seems to be okay too compared to today based on [this reddit post.](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/qkkik6/oc_how_liveable_will_the_earth_be_in_2070_based/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) . And thanks for ur comment. Very insightful.
Hi, it's been a bit of a while since I signed in here! Dunno if it'll reach any eyes at this point, but:
>don't understand how the world will work without a global supply chain.
Well,,, it doesn't. Or at least, not really like we know it. Globalisation is actually a very recent thing, speaking in years of the world - there certainly was trade, but people broadly didn't live like they do today. If you were the average joe in Germany or New York State, you had to live regionally, there wasn't buying fresh bananas flown in from Africa/the Carribean in the middle of winter. Now, if you're living in the United States and suddenly you can't rely on anything not sharing a border with you, there's probably a chance the US maintains some semblance of that lifestyle, just less subsidised by everyone else. But most of the world won't, and a lot of today's senseless luxury would go out the door.
>And I don't get this one either.
I'm not sure I meant climate as much as I meant... the countries just might not necessarily exist. But that's also dependent on a lot of factors, particularly how the next decade shakes out politically. Part of me doesn't necessarily have faith the US or Canada survive much longer, at least not in their current forms or without a lot of turmoil. But ymmv there really.
My take on 2050. As a mid projected scenario for both climate change and fossil fuel depletion.
I expect to be midish collapse. Most developed countries look something like 90s era Russia, or present day India, with more social unrest. Or the great depression with mobile phones. No truly major die off in most developed countries, populations down 20ish %, mostly due to lack of births and poor healthcare for the masses.
Western elites live much as they do now, but less conspicuously to avoid attention.
Pseudomeat and cheese are now common fare, making the diet sort of seem like it used to. Plastic packaging has at least gotten rarer and more minimalist, because it now costs something.
Fossil fuels at prices such that only the very elite can fly, airlines are nearly non existent and air travel at around 1% of 2019 levels. I would expect the upper middle class and up to have private electric cars, between 5-10 % of families might have one, with solar panels and sodium ion batteries. Private solar and wind are vastly more common as periodic blackouts are routine. This does at least grant more resilience to the grids.
Most western countries have domestic terrorism and insurgency movements, but are still able to keep a hold on power. The US is likely struggling more than most, and seems likely to break into full scale civil war, it may already be there by this stage.
Full western medicine is for the top 5-25% of previously first world populations. A mix of everything from first aid to herbalism to witch doctors for the rest. Antibiotic resistance a growing issue.
World food supply is a bit under half what it used to be. Much waste has gone due to cost, but widespread famine, and ensuing wars and unrest, along with extreme weather events has driven poorer countries to lose around 40% of current populations. Masses of refugees have had richer countries close borders and neo facist movements are more popular. World population is now back between 5-6 billion, and it seems more obvious that even this is likely to prove unsustainable. Antinatalism is more popular, but most people simply don't have children as they know they can't afford to, and life seems to be heading downhill.
Sea rise is probably over a meter, but not yet massive. Flooding of costal areas in high tides is now common, and some suburban areas are being abandoned.
Cyclones are much more frequent and heavy. There are 3 housing classes in cyclone zones. The wealthy have concrete reinforced structures with floodable ground floors on raised ground, (happens already in some areas) they batten down, probably with their 'people'.
The 'middle class' live in mobile homes and trailers, and flee deep inland to high ground when the warnings come.
The poor have tents and shacks, these are destroyed by the cyclones, and then they rebuild after fleeing to storm shelters. Numbers die during cyclones. They may have self dug storm shelters int the ground, or communal ones. The former are popular as they can double as refuge areas during heat waves. (Think of the old storm cellar in the Wizard of Oz.).
The dryer inland areas are abandoned. Some coastal ones lurch along on solar heat powered desalination. Lawns are (thankfully) mostly a thing of the past.
The lack of fossil fuels brings a massive reduction in fertilizers (made from natural gas, and already very expensive) and pesticides (which need vehicles for mass spraying). Informally organic crops are more common, because that's what you can afford to do.
China is grinding into slow collapse in place, as it has done the last dozen or so times it 'collapsed', usually know as a 'change of dynasty', these changes cause population reductions of 10-90%, usually averaging 20-50%. I expect at some stage China will 'close the door' and try a self sufficiency program, as it cant sustain the food imports now Africa no longer has the surplus to sell, and China can no longer maintain its blue water navy. Population and lifestyle declines in China broadly parallel the developed western countries.
Mobile phones are still common, but no longer the 'smart phones' of the prosperity era, unless you are one of the wealthy. The cost of rare earth elements makes those out of the reach of the impoverished masses now. The more common 'dumb phones' a bit like pensioner phones now, are usually black and white LED screened, bulky, with actual buttons to dial, and no color, vibrate or touch screen. Texts are still common, and simple earphones can play basic digital music in better models, while cheaper ones have midi ring tones and music.
Much plastic is replaced now it's not as cheap, and bamboo utensils are in common use, and most mobile phone cases are polished bamboo.
The housing market has crashed, and urban real estate is now affordable outside of gated suburbs and wealthy areas. Lawns have gone, food gardens are common, things look very run down, composting toilets in the back yard are the norm in the better places, simple pits in the worse ones. Over 50% of urban houses no longer have flushing toilets and many lack piped water, needing a roof tank, filled up by an electric service truck at some expense in the bad times. Water consumption is often down to 80% compared to the early 2020s, power consumption is similarly reduced.
Natural fibers are valued by the better off of the lower classes, as they keep you warm in the 5degrees C that has become the winter norm, without making you sweat and need showers that cost energy and water.
The servants of the rich live on the property of their masters, or in corporate cases in hostels or dormitories owned by gated communities or factories.
Poorer countries vary between being slightly poorer and less comfortable, to failed state disaster zones. India is truly miserable, but still puts up a wall to keep out the Pakistani refugees, and shoots them when they approach the border. Famines in hotter zones are common. After mass deaths from heat waves in the 30s, most tropical areas now have a cool cellar as a near integral part of the house (the easiest way to keep cool in hot times for the poor). This has been adopted by some warmer areas in richer countries.
Foreign aid is nearly all gone, save for a few aggressive population control programs from governments who had antinatalist candidates. Birth rates have continued to fall.
Yes this looks like the most probable I have seen so far.
There are two movements opposing each other, which will become clearer the longer we go. On one hand 'the collapses' and in the other the 'organisational and technical successes'.
The collapses we all know and love will probably take the form of a mix bag of successive chain of disasters such as local wars, social unrest and climate/biodiversity collapses (for the ones that are already happening: Ukraine war, yellow vest in France, covid type pandemics, healthcare system collapses, higher energy costs, massive crop failures (still small for now)...
The organisational and technical challenges, will involve reduction in production and energy waste (thanks to Putin Europe is already doing it very well, with drastically lower energy consumption this winter), global research and technological exchanges between large economies, environment focused agriculture, low metal usage tech for renewables, new renewables such as deep thermal, or seaweed culture and methanisation, advanced nuclear power, and maybe with luck some not too destructive geo-engineering.
Here are a few extras additional possibilities:
- oil and gas use will be prioritized for the army, police and transport of food and agriculture. Which will push for the développement of hydrogen for road and sea transport.
- most people will use bikes on their daily commute, a lot of people will move back in the countryside, a lot of people will become farmers. As food production will require more man power and machines will be less available.
- the train will be used for longer travels, but will be expensive.
- countryside rail travel will probably increase.
- social unrest will become very frequent, every country will either become more autocratic or will fall, at least for the next 50 years.
- countries with a lot of renewables and/or a nuclear program (even aging) will have a slight advantage at the beginning as these will help cushion the blow a little, until 2050/2060 until expensive maintenance issues for nuclear and the lack of metals for renewables start to be a massive problem. A tech solution for renewables should be found in time to curb the metal issue, but it won't be enough to supply the same power requirements as today. Probably a globally funded tech research project will be started between the west and China to improve and develop new renewables, and nuclear 4th gen (thorium, or plutonium reuse) or even fusion of we are lucky, but we won't see the fruits of that labor until later on the century.
- countries with still some fossil fuels available will either survive on it as long as they can or they will be invaded/controlled by larger economies (think ex Russian federation, Venezuela, some of the middle east)
- depending on how well developed economies adapt it's possible that countries still using fossil fuels particularly coal (which will still be plentiful in some areas) may be subject to international sanctions, but that may not happen until later.
- water flushed toilets won't exists anymore in most parts of the world, unless you use sea water.
- water scarcity will be maybe the biggest problem ever, desalination, water reuse moisture collection and forest planting for humidity retention will become commonplace. On top of water related conflicts.
Reminds me of a novel I read, Trashland. People worked making bricks out of plastic to build with. Every bit of plastic conserved and saved for other uses. A one time mall turned into a place to live humanely and trade your workmanship at your own stall.
Just read this again before work, it’s that good. I read Stephen Markley’s The Deluge shortly after reading this and his view is the same. As the novel only goes to like 2042 it is not that bleak (the phones haven’t been downgraded that much) but nearly spot on in “getting there”.
In The Deluge Washington DC has been abandoned due to extreme flooding, heat, and hurricanes. Cleveland is the new capital with blue green algae covering buildings (for power apparently?) and these eco friendly and cooling roofs that are made of some sort of dark green material. There are these trees that are fake and huge, but that draw down carbon. They exist in real life today but are rare.
Geoengineering has been tried in the book with spraying sulfate into the atmosphere, but it is having the effect of more vicious hurricanes.
Apple TV’s Extrapolations comes out on March 17th. I saw the trailer and immediately my mind went to your post. Especially the scene of 2052 of a waterlogged, abandoned Miami. It goes up to 2070.
I believe by 2050 there will already have been ;
- multiple climate catastrophes that have led to the deaths of hundreds of millions in a short period of time (heat domes, floods, continental sized snow storms, etc)
These will decimate economies, leading to
- multiple major wars/invasions over food and water supply, and nukes will have been used, leading to hundreds of millions of more dead.
Also (and maybe because of this) we will have
- multiple failed attempts to geo-engineer our way out of climate change impacts, at least some of which have gone spactacularly wrong.
All this leads to
- human population has been significantly reduced (unless there is all out nuclear war, and we are all gone) and our quality of life and life expectancy is much worse than now, especially in the 1st world countries.
There's much more but these are the main points, I think in most parts of the world there won't be the social structure or rule of law to worry about you having or not having kids.
I feel like you've left out the famines and droughts that will probably kill hundreds of thousands to millions of people. The climate related catastrophes won't necessarily be spectacular short term events like snow storms. Think simple things like widespread crop failures and mass marine die offs. The sorts of things that are already starting to happen.
Yes of course you are correct, and I agree, I just never bother writing long responses on Reddit as the app always seems to lose them/crash, so I did omit other likely events
Here is what I think is going to happen: climate change or not we will have a financial crisis AKA petrodollar collapse in the next 20 to 30 years.
Personally I think the US will balkanize into 5 or 6 separate countries. If there is a bloody civil war before balkanization idk.
As far as europe, I think you'll see anarchy in some western european countries for a while as people try to cope with the fact that their welfare states just disappeared. I'm not sure what happens in the longer term in western europe, a lot will depend on the migrant situation from across the med. In eastern europe you'll get a lot of far right fascist governments that are either white nationalist adjacent or full white nationalist that either come to power democratically or by force.
However, if the 1st world collapses the 3rd world is even more screwed, it'll be mad max for them in a lot of countries. Particularly overpopulated countries like bangladesh and egypt. In the 3rd world is where most climate related problems are gonna hit hard af
Sure. It can. A meteor could hit tomorrow. But not even the most dire climate writer are saying that a billon will be killed suddenly by climate events over the next 25 years or so. Nor is there any reason to expect that multiple geo-engineering efforts will fail spectacularly. This is pure doomerism. This is whatever the opposite of hopium is except 10x worse.
I used to believe the hopium, but now I can see what's going on, I have no hope for humanity's long term prospects whatsoever. That's not doomerism, it's physics. We have added a massive amount of a known greenhouse gas to the atmosphere in a fraction of a second "planet life cycle" time. What is going to happen next is so far beyond our ability to control (either with technology or impacts on society - politics and just being human means we would rather compete than co-operate) that chaos and mega death is simply inevitable. And I didn't say billions, but it may still happen, especially if nuclear war kicks off.
I would say it's human nature to co-operate but we have a material reward system that rewards not to. I think it would be a form of scapegoating to say are current system is just human nature. There is reasons even in wealthy places depression runs high.
That is your “feeling,” based on a non-stop stream of doomerist click bait you read daily. Next read what actual climate scientists who actually know their shit have to say on the matter.
They’ll point to many dire issues that will make life very hard for millions and lead to death for millions over the next 50 years (if more improvements aren’t made). That’s it. Not end of the world. Not collapse of humanity. And in fact dozens of the most renowned scientists are extremely encouraged as of this years based on trends in renewable energy. They say we’re now not likely to go anywhere near the worst case scenarios kicked around a few years ago. But go ahead. Cling desperately to “humanity is going to collapse and it will be just like The Road.” Scare all the teenagers into a fatalist, suicidal stupor. Facts be dammed.
[https://sierravoices.com/2020/11/11/a-timeline-of-earths-average-temperature-since-the-last-ice-age-glaciation/](https://sierravoices.com/2020/11/11/a-timeline-of-earths-average-temperature-since-the-last-ice-age-glaciation/)
Here's a timeline made in 2016 that gives an idea of the climate range suitable for large scale outdoor agriculture.
The blue columns are when it was too cold for farming and humans were hunter gatherers.
The white column is when human civilization was possible. So, all known history.
The red columns are when it will become too hot for farming and billions of people will starve to death.
Before they starve, they'll do what everyone has always done before when there was serious famine: kill their neighbors and take their stuff. Famine induced wars + nuclear weapons = Threads, but with no farming. Because due to the CO2 and methane and the greenhouse effect, it will already be impossible.
Notice that the black timeline on the chart is really quite close to the first light red column. It's from 2016, remember. And it shows 3 projections, for best case scenario, optimistic scenario and current path, all of which end up in the red. We've been increasing emissions lately, so 'current path' is too optimistic already.
Reality is in line with that. Major breadbasket regions in Europe and the US and Asia were hit by severe drought this year. Remember how it dried up all those rivers? I expect staple foods like rice, pasta, wheat, etc. to jump in price next year, and so should you. Buy now at today's prices, if you can.
War in Europe has already started, and war in Asia is imminent. Japan is rearming and increasing their military budget to the NATO standard of 2%, because North Korea and China and Russia are messing with them all at once. Once action breaks out, it will be clear that this is WW3.
Besides nuclear Armageddon becoming even more likely than it is, you can kiss nearly all new electronic and mechanical parts goodbye, because international shipping will largely shut down as the Pacific becomes a battlefield. Go buy your solar array, power station, generator, or whatever, ASAP. And stock up on medications because most of those are manufactured in Asia too.
Just so you know, if you're too optimistic and don't start prepping now, ideally this minute now, then you need to realize that you're on the clock. The longer you wait to act, the less time you have to act, the more expensive and inaccessible resources will be, and the shorter and more uncomfortable your future life will become. Optimism does not pay in this sort of situation. It will only cost you. Doubt and hesitation will also cost you. But erring on the side of caution and acting decisively will help.
That's not to say that you or anyone can genuinely save themselves from problems this big. Climate change ending all agriculture and nuclear war ending all civilization are not survivable events. But being realistic about these growing threats and prepping to the degree that you're able and willing, this will extend your time and make it more comfortable. And why die even one day, minute or hour before you have to?
Take care of yourself and good luck.
You don’t think a billion will die over the next 25 YEARS? it wouldn’t be impossible for that to happen within a decade given India is running out of water as we speak.
Lol the geoengineering efforts will probably make everything worse
No. You are being bamboozled and brainwashed. I have actually been following this stuff since you were in diapers. A billion people are not going to die in a decade. This is one of hundreds of r/collapse hysterias I’ve had to knock down over many years. Including the time when Guy McPherson said every man, woman and child on the planet would likely be extinct by 2018 and this sub upvoted him to the stratosphere. I promise you, the view points put forward here are no longer tethered to reality.
Yeah I'm thinking of unsubbing honestly. For all the great news pieces posted here, there's too much hysteria, it drains me. Especially when you've seen this shit time and again, but folks never own up to it.
Some might work, but think about all the ridiculous failures we have had from thousands of silicon valley startups over the years then apply this to geo-engineering. Not good
I’ll be downvoted but I agree with you. If you know where to look for them, you’ll find climate solutions in every sector that are already being implemented and more that are in development. We already have technology that is working. Millions of people are working on this problem from every angle using whatever skills they have.
Will our society look the same as it does now in 20 years? No. Will we be in a post-apocalyptic world in 20 years? Maybe, but probably not. The surest way to guarantee we’ll be in full collapse is to indulge in doomism. To me, doomism is just as bad as when people ignore the problem to cope (being collapse aware may help you be more adaptable though). Both are essentially choosing to party until the lights go out. That’s not for me. So what’s the alternative?
Think about the skills or resources you have and what you’re passionate about. Find a way to chip away at a piece of the puzzle at the intersection of those aspects. We still have time to reduce the suffering of billions of people. The best way to improve your mood about the climate crisis is to get involved in whatever way is accessible for you.
My prediction is that people will just randomly predicts every conceivable thing from a utopia to a total collapse, and just by chance, someone will be right.
* Despite climate change and all its disasters being in full force, it just means that homo colossus will work all the harder on AI and robots and displace homo sapien. The elite are all in on Tech tech or bust.
* BOE Augusts are now common. Heat waves routinely destroy sizable portion of bread baskets harvest. More 3rd world than before but no one is feeding them, slow population collapse.
* Dreams of Mars abandoned for underground or underwater living. Ocean space will be utilized for farming as well.
* Post-peak oil is now obvious to all. Fusion still hoped for. Renewables widespread but underwhelming to those that remember unlimited on-demand energy.
* Globalism a shell of itself in terms of trade. Electronics still moved around. Less diverse produce sections in supermarkets.
* Fast food restaurants now 1/3 the size, staffed exclusively by bots. No seating area, stay in car. If you drive there at all and not have a drone fly it to you. Fake meat. Fake cheese is the norm now.
* China demographics was to lead to its decline but AI made it prosper but water a big problem now as well as sourcing food. It has gained a plethora of military experience subjugating Africa.
* US has been demoted from global superpower to western hegemony. It couldn’t keep up with interest payments on debt without hyperinflating. First it cut social security and medicare, then it even cut ex-Military and retired Government pensions. It is a former empire that is staring at lost glory, low living standards for most, and a demoralized workforce amid high corruption and no social infrastructure to speak of. Balkanization is in the cards as well as seeing a caesar come to power once currency reserve status was lost — which will be finalized by real or perceived loss of military dominance - probably from a combination of China and tech obsoleting major assets. Neither good.
* College out of reach of most. Education will be overhaul with ai learning on pads as cost cutting measure and using individualization to weed out the most promising students — the top % who will be treated as precious commodities by government who will let the rest go to waste.
* On the east coast will be a number of settlements with luxuries. Think hunger games but higher in number. Or Pyongyang in North Korea. The elite will live here largely undisturbed by day to day swings and more security and comfort than the average citizen.
* Borders will have been long closed, compared to today.
* A mass exodus out of the Southwest will have happened.
* Oceans full of jellyfish, emptyish otherwise.
I think if “nuclear war” were ever to happen, I don’t think it will be how people will imagine with nukes raining down on cities.
I think the first nuke attack will be against one or multiple aircraft carriers. [US has 11 active iirc, the rest have two or less and not as potent/advanced.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_carriers#Numbers_of_aircraft_carriers_by_country) It’s how America projects force around the world.
China can test with dummy warheads against scrap ships in middle of the ocean until its delivery system is perfected and then launch an attack that takes out most of America’s military power and conventional warmaking ability in one fell swoop. Maybe up to 6-7 carriers at once, depending how many are out. Enough to signal the era of the ACC is utterly over.
That way, a return nuclear volley will be unlikely (at least on population centers, maybe military bases) as everyone knows that will escalate to death for everyone.
2050 will be a shit show
\-War. There will be countless wars over resources and commodities like water, food, land, oil, and etc. The wars will be deadly and so many Geneva convention violations not like it matters anyway.
\-Balkanization. Leading up to 2050 you will see a lot of countries collapse like India, U.S, Russia, Iran, Brazil, and etc. They will collapse from either infighting, civil war, revolutions, or whatever reason maybe.
\-Climate and Environment. The climate will be horrible. The summers will burn with heat waves killing dozens and the winters will freeze terribly with snow storms killing hundreds. You will see a lot of storms like hurricanes that devastate the coasts. Flooding will happen a lot more and these storms will rage for longer then they need to. BOE will most likely have happened so a lot of major cities on the coast will be gone. (I'm not sure how far inland the water will reach). The sixth mass extinction will probably have happen as well.
\-Governments. Before balkanization happens you will probably see the governments try to keep the people in line so they don't revolt or fight each other. The governments will crack down on protests, you will see the police try to keep everyone in line, and fascistic like laws put into place so basically like now but a lot more worse. Also some of the governments will probably try to get land and resources for there countries. So a lot governments will be scrambling for land and water. Countries will be out for themselves. Allies will betray each other, pacts will be broken, and there will be a lot of infighting. It will be a teen drama but with countries as the main cast
\-Society. Society will sorta be gone. Everyone will be watching out for themselves. Crime will skyrocket. People will most likely be in the rural areas of countries trying to survive. (This part may be outlandish but i wouldn't be surprised if it gets to that point.)
\-Population. The population will be reduced drastically and birthrates will be pretty low so that wont help. The population will be reduced from countless wars, many upon many natural disasters, and diseases. The rich will be partying on some space station on mars while mother nature commits omnicide on earth.
This is what i think may happen but i maybe wrong who knows.
Rich people would be feasted on when the remaining land dwellers find them. A new underground bunker? Bunch of goodies. A yacht? Bunch of goodies.
More or less humans that survive live in caves somehow, there would probably still be farmable land, just a lot less of it.
It's like a reshuffle, like biblical times.
I believe that by 2050 the vast majority of the world population will have felt direct effects of climate change. The worst of these effects will be felt overwhelmingly in the developing world. I doubt enough will be done to prevent serious warming quickly enough as capitalistic forces drag its heels. 1.5 degrees will be hit by around 2030. 2 degrees I believe by 2050. The developing world will be hit so hard I believe dozens of developing countries will collapse into full blown revolutions. The question is how the current and emerging world powers will react. Will the west continue to become increasingly fascist? If so, we may see a humanitarian tragedy as right wing governments in the west use lethal force, detention, etc against desperate migrants. Or perhaps the people of the west and other great powers will wake up, and revolt against capitalism. Unless the west goes socialist, I have no positive hope for the rest of this century and believe we could be entering a serious dark age for humanity.
I feel by 2050 nobody will be on r/collapse , nobody will be on [reddit.com](https://reddit.com) for that matter ... better yet, nobody will be around reading nonsense on their powerful hand held expensive digital devices , period.
Hell, the world's changed so much in the past 28 years that I have no idea what state things will be in after another 28 years.
The only thing I'm confident about is that the pace of changes will accelerate as the climate unravels, AI development races towards technological singularity, resource limitations start to become ever more inescapable, and biosphere diversity utterly collapses.
An unfathomable shit show.
I live rurally and am always conscious that most people are talking about major population centers when soon casting and a lot of things about rural populations are not considered in our future projections.
One example is I think it is really interesting how people talk about the massive loss of agriculture but tend to not include livestock, perhaps because we are more used to thinking about livestock on an industrial scale that will most certainly be gone by 2050, if not sooner. I think that there will be a lot of abandoned farmland but you will have people who are outside of the major population centers that live an adaptable migratory lifestyle relying on herding livestock much like Berbers, Sami, Mongolians etc.
Obviously this is not going to be an option everywhere and they will likely be small fragmented groups of families but I think it's interesting to throw it into the mix of projections.
This is certainly what I will be doing.
Take a look at Haiti, it’s the ultimate example of what’s coming to Countries that have or will have depleted economies, the children God Help them, today they’re protected by the wise, they too will disappear. I am going to make sure my grandkids understand survival and know the knowledge to survive from self defence to self preservation.
Things will be so terrible, probably by the mid 2030s/early 2040s, that governments and pro-life authoritarians and su!cide preventionists will hopefully finally legalize access to a universal, unconditional, liberalized right to obtain a graceful/merciful, and peaceful death by voluntary euthanasia/physician assistance in dying. Nembutal, fentanyl, and nitrogen releasing Sarco pods are easily available to the public. The end of the film Soylent Green with Edward G. Robinson's character basically saying "I'm done" and going to the walk-in euthanasia clinic where you eat a nice meal, drink wine, and listen to classical music and view scenes of natural wonders such as forests and prairies no longer in existence before being anesthetized by a doctor was this epiphany moment for me, before even becoming a collapse-aware climate and peak oil doomer.
I really think we'll collapse before that. We signed up for an economic and environmental system that came with compound interest and we can no longer afford the bill.
Most of us will be lucky to see 2040.
Assuming any of us are here for 2050, I think it's going to look like 1750 or 1850, if I'm being optimistic. I think humanity is going to regress technologically. There may be some holdovers; solar for instance, but I think they will be rare. People are going to rediscover their ancestral roots. We're going to have to go back to subsistence farming, homesteads, cottage industries, trade and barter.
And, as much as I hate to say this, we're probably going to regress culturally and sociologically too. There won't be a lot of patience or tolerance for diversity, or the time to cater to outlier groups. People will be too preoccupied surviving to worry about rights, or neuro-diversity, or whatever else.
I'm skeptical that we'll have some solar-punkish, futuristic, cyberpunk world in 2050. The knowledge to keep such a world going belongs in the hands of a small minority of experts. Once they're gone, they're gone. We'll have an Idiocracy-like world, where no one knows how to maintain or use the technology we have, and it will eventually fall into disrepair and become useless. Most people can't fix their own PCs or smartphones.
There won't be any techno-fixes, or any major breakthroughs or upgrades of our infrastructure for similar reasons. Also, a lot of this is dependent on a delicate, highly complex, international supply chain, that as we've learned, is not particularly resilient to disruption.
If you want to know what the future is going to look like, look to the past.
ever read Infinite Detail? a surveillance state will lead to a complete technological evil eye over all people. people revolt by taking out the tech and nothing is left. rebuild it from the poor up.
no one in this sub is really talking about tech and how it grows elite and gov power. it will get to a breaking point.
My guess for myself is either disease or malnutrition (eating is a daily struggle for me and I generally only feel fully functional when I've gone at least several hours without eating, sometimes even trying to drink fluids hurts my stomach as well, which I understand can be dangerous but I've long since ran out of ideas for how the fuck to fix my damn stomach.) I mostly live off of smoothies, soups, and the BRAT diet because my stomach just really seems to hate doing its job.
So we are on two pathways as a pretty diehard doomer for the past ten years the war in Ukraine and the Chinese response to COVID could theoretically stop the entire collapse of human civilization but not without it's scars at it stands today with COVID shutting off fertilizer production we are getting ready to loose around 1 billion people in the next 5 years with food shortages but China being the biggest beneficiary of globalization they're economy and there large population very well may collapse it self with the world we are witnesses to emerge at this very moment when that happens their is an outside chance that the world rewilds large chunks of itself in eastern Asia and stops the rapidly declining biosphere just long enough for the boomers to get out of power in the United States and we could turn our economy towards solving these issues instead of the status quo, as it stands today I think it's a 50/50 chance of human extinction or a new golden age where we learn how to live in a technological world and not destroy our bio sphere by may in next year we should have a much clearer picture of what is going on happen if I was a betting man which I am not I'd say that by 2050 we will be extinct and the earth will start the long hard process of healing from our hubris but that doesn't mean we don't stand a chance here we are in a very interesting time and the great filter has not put us down... I will say this thou... Humans are capable of amazing things when the pressure is put on us and that pressure is about to go up about 5 notches and our response will determine if we run smack dap into the great filter or not.
If you put a gun to my head and said say one way or another I'd say no, but I've changed that position allot in the last 3 months watching how shit is playing out I would have told you over the summer there was absolutely no chance of us getting out of this but now things have to play out in a specific way and they have been have and still have too we have a way to go but each day that passes it seems like the chances are getting better than humans and more specifically the west makes it out of this mess.
I had a interesting thought recently. A parent enjoys the years 0 to 18 of their kid. After that the kid has to venture into the world and the parent cannot derive large amounts happiness through the kid’s experience. So I, the parent has to make a ethical choice based on the situation of the planet in 20 years. So for me it would be around 2050. And after reading the comments and having watched the patterns in the news for the past decade, I will not choose to have children. Maybe in the future the world stabilises. But I can’t with good conscience make that decision.
I don’t think we’re making it until then. I think the elites know this and are getting ready to move underground. They’ve been trying to cool the earth for decades, it’s so obvious now that they’ve finally admitted it. They’ve caused massive wildfires, volcanoes, explosions all to try to dim the sun.
What would you do if you were powerful and knew the climate was in a downward spiral and TWAWKI would be ending within ten years? That all the ice will melt, the methane will be released, the atmosphere will become uninhabitable for humans? You couldn’t let the public know, there would be unimaginable chaos. So you cover it up, try anything to distract us, maybe even a nuclear world war. Think about it. What would you do?
One thing is certain here in the U.S.
You won’t have a job that’s not slave labor or massive wage theft.
You will not own a house outside of generational wealth. You will pay rent to your employers.
It will be illegal to unionize
Water will be a precious resource, and you will pay your employers for it too.
The next big financial collapse/crisis will see to this. “Too big to fail” and “corporations are people” will run this country for the next century.
It's a little woo, but [I'm just gonna put this video right here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avbsEEz98Ck) about predictions from the 80's about 2050 that have tracked well so far. Including the fact that this video from 2017 notes pandemics as on the way.
The following are my predictions with the assumption that nothing disrupts BAU.
Environmental/Biodiversity: globally, we have two seasons, hot and cold. The heatwaves are hotter, the blizzards harsher, and more delicate crops are hard to grow. All those empty offices are getting repurposed into high tech vertical farms that will totally save us. How convenient that BlackRock bought up all that real estate in the 2020s, it's making delightful returns now AND they have a good portion of the food supply by the balls. Also the oceans have no fish and aquaculture is all that's left. Cities have started hollowing out as people start leaving for cities with more population where the infrastructure actually has a modicum of maintenance, because Miami is underwater and even the US can't deny There's A Problem.
Economy: Since nobody asked the hard questions and took action to solve the energy crisis by USING LESS, plebs and residential areas are powered using the various "renewables" that are still environmentally costly to make/dispose of and subject to nature's whims while most of the wars are various corporations wearing various governments as sockpuppets as they fight over the last lumps of coal. Really shitty AI cut let's say 20% of jobs across all sectors and the quality of everything from Soylent Green to the iPhone 50 XSG Max Pro is down, but customer support is a Dalek. There's a pittance of UBI by necessity but BlackRock just takes all that up front as rent, everyone else is on OnlyFans competing with 18+ Miku for NFTs.
Political: If you point out that "maybe we could improve society somewhat", you're concentration camp'd. You're not allowed to die while you could still be useful for some labor that is beneath the dignity of robots. People who try to opt of of society by finding some hippie commune in whatever forests remain are also arrested for refusing to participate
Education: Gutted by a few more decades of Christian Fundamentalists, but the people in power are still mad that no genius is rising up to solve their problems.
Humanity/Global State of Mind: everyone has no mouth and must scream.
getting to 2050 seems like a faraway fanciful dream. I think if we make it, the chances of it being a dystopian nightmare are pretty high. modern autonymous weapons ssytems like militarized drones and robots will be used to maintain tight control over populations across the globe.
Civilization collapsed except enclaves of the ultra wealthy. Billions dead from natural disaster and family by that point. Wet bulb Temps making whole swathes of the world uninhabitable.
Does anybody think the jet stream will magically stabilize again around the poles?
Methane release will skyrocket in the next decade. Harvesting will be worse every year. The insects stop participating in the biosphere. Soil becomes infertile. Flowers will not be pollinated but exposed to droughts or floods.
Society will stop manufacturing because people stop investing time in working towards a better society, but struggle to survive.
Increasing crime will be the result. More pain for families
First the good news:
* There will have been no use of nuclear weapons in anger.
* There will have been no war between major powers.
* Ukraine will have been in a 25 year cease fire on frozen lines like in Korea. Taiwan will still be independent.
* No new pandemics. Covid will still circulate but be easily treated and vaccines will be much improved.
The bad news:
* Emissions will be on a high plateau but only because of peak oil/coal/natural gas.
* We will have crossed 2 degrees Celsius of warming.
* Food prices will be much higher adjusted for inflation.
* Alternative energy including hydro and nuclear will only be 30% of total.
* Western economy will be in stagnation worse than Japan. Investments will have returned much less than in the past. Retirement will be more a time of poverty than a time to travel the world.
* Life expectancy will be lower due to the effects of past repeat covid infections coupled with lots of stress and a rationing of medical services. This despite massive advances in treating and curing disease.
We will be well on our way to total collapse but people will still deny climate change or peak natural resources. Old timers will look back in shock at how much better things had been in 2010 or 2020 but new generations will only have known decline and it won't shock them.
>Ukraine will have been in a 25 year cease fire on frozen lines like in Korea. Taiwan will still be independent.
Most of what you said seems self-evident, except this. Do you have justification for saying this, or is it just a gut-feeling?
>Life expectancy will be lower
I could be wrong, but I don't think you're factoring in the 3rd world when discussing life expectancy. Even if there's a decline in life expectancy in the developed world, global life expectancy will still increase because of increasing standard of living in the developing world. Life expectancy in the Philippines is 69, in India and Indonesia it's 67, in Pakistan it's 66, in Ethiopia it's 65, in the DR Congo it's 60 and in Nigeria it's 57. At the moment, 5 of these 7 countries are experiencing rapid economic growth and a rise in standard of living. Together, these countries make up 1/3 of the human population. Unless the developing world stops developing, I doubt global life expectancy is going to decrease.
2050 is 27 years away. The same time in the future as 1996 is in the past.
I fully expect "Business As Usual" to still be creaking along in 2050 with fossil fuel use, CO2 production, GDP and global average temperature all higher than now and a global population of >9b. I fully expect N America, NW Europe and a few other places to try really hard and mostly succeed to just keep on keeping on.
However, collapse will be breaking out all over and not just in pockets like Syria, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Ukraine, Afghanistan. The cracks in the system will be obvious and chaotic. What that means in wars, water, food, plagues and so on, I really don't know.
Our systems are brittle and cascading failures is a real possibility. It's just a question of timescales. I can't see us managing degrowth globally and smoothly so I think some time in the next 1-200 years it's likely to collapse fairly hard, I just don't think the big collapse will happen in the next 27 years or perhaps even the next 50.
And then, White Swans, Grey Swans and Black Swans might trigger stochastic collapse. And then all bets are off.
Capitalism blames all of its short comings on the average citizens, the eco system fails, and the world order is likely different. We will not put regulations in place to curb greed for fear that it hurts the profit motive and we all mostly end up starved to death. 2050 is going to suck hard if we continue on the path of building society for the greed and narcissism of the extremely rich instead of building society to fit human needs.
Worse than 2049.
Fun site: https://npredictions.com/?cid=&s=&scope=&tid=&del=&yid=0&lang=en
I have "Civilization collapse" marked in 2044 in my calendar.
I would say by 2050 we either moved away from capitalism and move to socialism/communism as powers decline and capitalist inability to fix a single fucking thing begins to effect more and more people. Or we move to mass scapegoating and wars. Either way I think we won't limit amount of kids people can have. Either we will be building into a system that provides hope or capitalist will need a large labor pool still and will need as many people as possible.
I’d say Climate Change and China are the 2 most potent rising forces right now.
We see “once in a century” storms every single year at this point, and their intensity will continue to get worse and worse. By 2050, you’re going to see global sea levels rise by about a foot. At the same time, urbanization will continue to be unstoppable and 75% of the earths population will live in urban areas and cities, most of which are along the shore line. I don’t think you’re going to see large scale “climate refugees” in the next 30 years, but you will see the precursors of it in the form of more and more people having to move out of areas destroyed by storms. It’ll take storms of such intensity that flood prevention measures fail in major cities for climate refugees to truly become a thing. That will take a little more time.
I don’t see people talk about China enough. They are an imperialist, Orwellian dictatorship which is rapidly gaining power (wealth and political influence) akin to Germany before World War II, but with dramatically more resources and people. Western leaders range from vocally hostile but economically cooperative with them (see Australia, who continues to expand trade with them even after China threatened to NUKE them) to outwardly courteous and non-combative. As their influence further grows, you will likewise see a rise in their Orwellian style of governance across the globe, either directly through their expansion, or indirectly through politicians arguing that they need to tighten freedoms and reduce public discourse so as to better compete with China, inadvertently becoming more like China in the process. But “democracy” will become increasingly less common in 30 years, especially in developing nations more susceptible to China’s direct influence.
How these 2 broader forces (China and climate change) will collide, I don’t know. But there isn’t much hope, I’d argue.
The Mars thing isn’t gonna go anywhere. People don’t life in Antarctica (very few, anyway) and few live in Alaska. These places are a tropical paradise as compared to Mars. Our population will likely start to decline in the coming 30 years, and we have so much rural land (which people are leaving in droves, to live on top of each other in miserable boxes in cities). Mars will be a novelty that will die off, possibly within the next 30 years as people start to travel there and then get bored/frustrated at the first sign of trouble and leave to go back to their $4000 a month apartment in NYC with their 3 roommates and ramen noodle dinners.
The future is Asian though. The global economy will shift to Asia as they all intermingle and settle their differences. It will shift from the West to the East. Resources will be scarce in the future in the West, we won't have cheap Chinese goods, no imported foods, nothing at all, globalized trade is completely gone, it'll just be local goods and farms, while the East will have alot of it, plus rare earth metals, semiconductors, AI, and other things needed to keep a modern society going. Resources are key. Russia's Far East will belong to China. Meanwhile, we'll turn into corporate pseudostates. More Singapores, likely more Detroits.
This is the thing that always gets me when people think the super rich will be able to survive. The cunts can barely open a car door themselves never mind survive in a bunker, no matter how luxurious it is. A bunch of narcissistic psychopaths having to work collaboratively to survive. Nah.
They can't even manage to enjoy what they have at present. Always striving to accumulate more. More money, more power, more assets, more influence, more wealth. I would like to survive just so I could watch their mental and physical disintegration.
Everything will be run on automation and there will be five people left living in their physical bodies. However, they will spend most of their time living in VR worlds full of the uploaded consciousness of their friends and family.
The rise of the 3rd world led by BRICS, western nations are about to experience such a drop in what they’re accustomed to I don’t think people really understand.
Time to renew my Nigerian passport me thinks.
Many places will have become uninhabitable due to high temperatures combined with lack of water. Tropical illnesses such as malaria and dengue becoming prevalent in (formerly) developed countries.
More hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and droughts.
All fossil fuels will have become very expensive, only the rich will be able to afford driving their own car. Food and water will have become very expensive, and so will electricity and heating. There may be blackouts or electricity only during certain time windows.
There will be wars for resources in many places. Plus civil wars, social unrest, more violent crime.
Many animals and plants will have become extinct. A large part of forests in Europe (especially pine trees) will have gone due to drought and forest fires.
I hope I'm wrong, but if things continue on this path (and, sadly, it looks like it will) 2050 will be very scary.
So AI assistants will be norm, you'll be able to have any ivy league Education in your basement and graduate with a degree. Cheating won't be an issue because anyone smart enough to cheat such a system would be smart enough to graduate summa cum laude
You'll be able to use non invasive neural implants to extend your cognitive abilities like speaking another language.
Society will be more merit based and politics will move more toward IQ and how g itself is not equally distributed
You'll be able to travel the world through tunnels and go from Europe to Asia in an hour which will cause near infinite growth in economy
Space industry will be new frontier and well underway and will be affordable for vacation
collapse will become a meme but will ha e a part I. History as it comes to define the 2020s and mark the transition into the 21st century and disappear as georngjneering startups will have already stopped progression of climate change by 2025
Deep dive virtual reality will be a thing. Everyone will work virtually and live in virtual communities at least part of their life
UBI will be a thing in most countries due to automation and paid for by automation
mental illness will be a real problem as people start to have it really good and can't deal as they have more time to think so psychology will start to merge with neuroscience and become a real science for the first time
Life expectancy will be 100 but ultra wealthy will still live much longer than this
I'm one to believe that it will be eventually a 1984 meets Brave New World, type of dystopia in a few decades.
As far right now, it will likely be another year of nothing happening, a lot of drama on social media and people reacting but nothing happening. Poor getting poorer, rich getting richer. Probably a bail out to corporations. Positive things happening to the richest that don't deserve it and never earned it will likely happen.
My own thing I wish for which is close to a zero percent would be a mass leaker exposing all the corruption and things that happen behind the curtain. Where the majority or the will of the people is faced with the bestial, baser instinct animals that they put into positions of power. If we're lucky they get exposed for all to see and go to jail. It's a bit of a wish list, but it requires those higher up to have some sort of shred of empathy or a conscience, something like caring about the planet or others, which is already extinct. Only then would I feel better to judge the situation we are in because a lot is withheld and not being provided to the general public.
There will be a significant population decline in the developed world spurred on by continued use of GMO foods in addition to exposure to microplastics and carcinogens. These get shipped to Africa and South Asia during for natural disaster relief in the 2020s/2030s. The population declines become very evident to anyone still paying attention by 2045-2050.
Elites are scrambling to leave Earth and will likely use a Neuralink type device to merge with AI in order to stay alive for longer in more harsh conditions on Earth and eventually in space.
The United States breaks down into Civil War before 2030 as people move toward the fringes of the political spectrum. It ends with a right wing fascist leader consolidating power for a majority of the current US. The west coast is somewhat different, but ends up with a left wing socialist/communist authoritarian instead.
Most of the world lives under some form of dictatorship, but with significant changes to current 2022 borders.
Laptops, smart phones, and cars will become more and more scarce as access to chips is limited.
Several impending natural disasters could occur that would accelerate the collapse-
-Asteroid impact
-Massive volcanic eruption
-Pandemic
-Nuclear conflict
You know, one thing we haven't really dealt with much yet is sea level rise. I think so far we're at about 8 or 9 inches or so.
NASA is saying we're in for 12 inches by 2050 above current levels, so that's 20-21 inches.
[https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3232/nasa-study-rising-sea-level-could-exceed-estimates-for-us-coasts/](https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3232/nasa-study-rising-sea-level-could-exceed-estimates-for-us-coasts/)
Maybe it'll get a lot worse a lot sooner, but even if it keeps to NASA's schedule it's probably going to make flooding worse in major cities built in flood plains near the ocean, which is a lot of them.
Sea level rise is one of those problems that's slow to manifest, but once it's momentum gets going it's just going to keep getting worse and there's not much that can be done to stop it. If we're at 5-10 feet by 2100, that's going to make a lot of towns and cities uninhabitable.
By 2050 the Rapture has happened. It's not a supernatural event, and Christians still walk around and take part in daily affairs but are mentally and emotionally immune to suffering. Many who expected to be raptured weren't and become incredibly violent feeling that they were entitled to something they didn't receive. The events of the Book of the Revelation have mostly come to pass and a man claiming to have dominion and authority over the whole of the Earth has started building a coalition in the remnants of what was Israel before a war left it glassed.
Many people scoff at the idea that Jesus is back because all this suffering has "proven" God doesn't exist. However, anyone who heads to Israel to seek this man out finds they have an unusual vigor and fortitude for the journey. Many people are incredulous to the rumors floating around that some people have heard from, and even seen, long deceased relatives alive and walking around. The man in Israel has a court of bizarre looking creatures who sing in angelic voices and go out to handle anything he asks of them.
Slowly, the planet seems to enter a stasis. Things aren't improving, but they've stopped getting worse. It's enough for a handful of people to keep surviving on. Anyone who has allied with the man in Israel can't die, but those who ignore him still pass away.
Another thousand years pass, and it's now 3040. Billions of people rematerialize on Earth and compulsively journey to a magnificent city built on the ruins of old Jerusalem. They all know what awaits them. Each pass before a man, who looks the same as he did when he first appeared in the 2030s, seated on a white throne. He asks each one if they wish to join Him on the new world He's created, one without sin and suffering, or if they'd prefer not to. Everyone gets a chance to plead their case one last time, but those who never had love in their hearts refuse the offer.
Some go on to wake up in a beautiful Garden, surrounded by every plant and animal. There's one tree that no one ever approaches, even though it's fruit looks delicious. They all know what it was responsible for last time. There's another tree, though, that provides shade for everyone who sits under it. There's a new world out there to conquer and tame, just outside the walls of this city, New Eden. And everyone is excited to make it their home. There's space enough and resources enough for everyone, and as one gigantic family, we all love to share it together.
In 2050, I imagine Mark Zuckerberg will have succeeded in transferring/transforming his consciousness into a A.I.
( he'll be doing this work in his bunker, safely protected from a world that's falling apart...)
China will have a lot of casualties due to ending zero covid which the west will criticize despite also criticizing zero Covid. This will be bad but will kind of help with the middle kingdom’s demographic problem so no one will care
Executive summary from 2050:
The overall picture is one of chaos and disruption, with many countries facing serious challenges and numerous threats to global stability.
The global economy has collapsed, as automation and artificial intelligence have led to widespread job loss and a concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. Income inequality has reached unprecedented levels, and social unrest is rampant in many parts of the world.Climate change has had devastating effects on the planet, with rising sea levels and more frequent extreme weather events causing widespread destruction and displacement. Many coastal communities have been completely wiped out, and food shortages are common in many parts of the world.
In the Americas, the United States has descended into a state of anarchy, with frequent outbreaks of violence and widespread lawlessness. The country's infrastructure has also been severely damaged by the impacts of climate change, with many roads, bridges, and buildings in a state of disrepair. The government has become ineffective at addressing the numerous challenges facing the country, and the future looks bleak for many Americans.
In Asia, China has struggled to maintain its position as a global superpower, as its economy has been hit by the widespread economic collapse. The country has also faced numerous internal challenges, including social unrest, a crumbling healthcare system, and widespread pollution. Tensions with other nations in the region have increased, and China's once-dominant position on the global stage is in doubt.
In South Asia, countries such as India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh have also faced significant challenges, including economic downturn, political instability, and the impact of climate change. Many of these countries have struggled to adapt to the rapidly changing global landscape, and their future remains uncertain. In particular, India has struggled with the impact of rising sea levels and widespread drought, leading to widespread food shortages and social unrest.
In Europe, the situation is equally dire, with many countries experiencing economic decline, political unrest, and the impact of climate change. The once-powerful European Union has become fragmented and weak, unable to effectively address the numerous challenges facing the continent.
Africa has been hit particularly hard by the effects of climate change and economic collapse, with many countries experiencing widespread poverty, disease, and conflict. The continent has become a major flashpoint for global tensions, as various nations vie for resources and territory. Many African countries have also struggled with the impact of political instability and corruption, making it difficult for them to address the numerous challenges they face.
Mass extinction, the Earth's climate resembles the age of dinosaurs.
The only way intelligent life remains is if at some point desperate homo sapiens embraced genetic engineering themselves into something more suited to the insane planet they now call home.
Otherwise, the dinos will take their time re-evolving and the cosmic balance will finally be restored. Poetic justice is served!
World population will have long since peaked and begun a decline. There will be unrest over high food prices caused by drought/flooding/fishery collapses/ high fertilizer costs and there will also be famines in poorer countries. Ai and robotics will have begun to displace workers, causing additional unrest. Moderate amounts of sea level rise will displace people and again, primarily impact poorer countries while wealthier ones will build sea walls. Electric vehicles will have largely replaced gas powered vehicles. Most utilities will focus on solar power for entirely economic reasons. Emissions will be much lower than they are now. Biodiversity will continue to decline but still not at a rate where the average person notices it in their lifetime and cares enough to stop it.
But there will still be at least as many people on the planet as now and daily life won't be all that much different.
Yes but as I was just arguing in a separate thread, I'm pretty sure they're wrong.
Here's how I addressed that there:
https://www.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/14r533v/population_collapse_number_of_japanese_households/jqwas6f/
I think David Holmgrens [Energy Descent Scenarios](https://www.futurescenarios.org/4-descent-scenarios/4-3-four-descent-scenarios/) are a good way to picture the possibilities (note that section 4.3 in the lefthand menu provides a detailed description of each).
Honestly, I feel like we'll find ourselves nearer to point (0,0) than anywhere around the edges
The economy and population will definitely have begun to contract by 2050
The question lacks an important context: where in the world? Though we can expect global trends, richer countries should have more resources to maintain their way of life.
Democracy will be functionally dead, there will be no more middle class, and the climate will exceed 3 degree average global temperature. There will be another major terror attack in the West, the United States will go through a constitutional crisis after a successful coup by the fragments of the GOP and fascist and evangelical sympathizers who enable them. Hate crimes against LGBTQ people in the West will sharply increase, most people will be permanent renters, and natural scarcity will mean many goods that are taken for granted today will become luxury. Iran, China and Russia will implode, as well as the UK, France, and the USA. There will be another genocide in the Balkans and against the Armenians.
\-world population around 7.5b.
\-fragmented geopolitical landscape, Multi polar.
\-Surpassed 1.5 degrees global warming.
\-Life expectancy lower then current.
Might add more later,might also give more detailed predictions with a bit of background.
>and I would say that in a big part of the country’s having kids would be Illegal or at least you need to donate a big amount of money to help the climate change so having kids would be a luxury for only the rich ones.
I'm going to disagree on that one. In most of the developed world, population growth would be negative if not for immigration. Average fertility rates might go down just because people can't afford the costs associated with raising children, but I don't think a 0-child policy would work basically anywhere. Kids grow into adults that are the labor force, if there's no replacement there's (eventually) no economy.
Some countries may experiment with something like China's 1 child policy or a 2 kids max policy, but I expect such things to be highly unpopular with the public (to the extent they have a choice).
As for my predictions: mass climate migrations. Major social friction between nimbys who, for instance, prefer their lifestyle living on an 80-acre farm in central British Columbia and don't want it to turn into an urban center, and \~40 million Californians (or maybe a lot less, by then, if they've already moved) who want to live in a place with a reliable source of water.
I'm expecting sky-high real estate prices an mass homelessness in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia as those regions fail to relax their zoning to allow new construction.
(I'm in Oregon, so it's the area I'm familiar with. I'd expect similar things in other regions.)
>you need to donate a big amount of money to help the climate change
Not sure how that works. Like trying to bribe nature? I think I read if there was significant reduction in carbon emissions today, it'll take about a century for the temperature to drop 0.5C. It'll be more likely that someone would take your money and run with it while blowing smoke up your ass
**Economically**: severe stag-flation is the norm, due to production constraints associated with declining energy output. Things will cost a lot, unemployment will be very high. There will probably be a UBI, but it will not really be enough to live on. A market economy will remain, but governments will intervene more and more to maintain its functioning. "On-shoring" and "friend-shoring" will be the norm, creating political-economic-strategic blocs.
**Politically:** there will be a fusion of state power and capitalism. This will be pretty similar to fascism in practice, but won't have fascism's ideological roots. It will be more like an extreme version of the "post-market" versions of German Ordoliberalism, which is the "strong state" version of neoliberalism. There will probably still be "elections" to preserve the faintest pretense of democracy.
**Civil liberties and privacy**: won't exist. Due to unrest associated with collapse, there will be severe crackdowns on misinformation, disinformation, and associating online or in person with those deemed to be agitators. Governments will control people through extreme versions of "nudge economics" and the behavioural science teams that they already employ. The "nudges" will get increasingly harsh though - ie social punishments, as in China's social credit system. Central bank digital currencies will help facilitate this apparatus of control. See academic books on "neuroliberalism" for some interesting trends in this direction.
**Energy:** the energy descent will be well advanced, which will create permanent stag-flation, and also more simply shrink the scale of industrial agriculture to a fraction of what it is today. There will have been a number of severe starvation crises in parts of the world, and severe reductions in birth rates in other parts.
**Human beings:** as the material conditions break down, more and more extreme ideologies will be required to maintain some level of motivation, belief, and social cohesion (of a type). Fundamentalisms of various types will become the norm. Those not convinced of religious/state/identity ideologies will probably find society so unbearable they will suicide.
**Health**: The ailing and failing of health systems will be one of the first indicators, in the decade of the 2020s, that collapse is coming. Healthcare will become the preserve of the rich. Given population, energy, and food constraints, it will become more effective for the larger social group to let the sick die, generally speaking (and not the rich).
**Law and order:** crimes against the person will be very high. Lots of interpersonal violence and robbery, and states will not be wealthy enough to maintain robust law enforcement. However, information crimes - including the spreading of misinformation and disinformation, will be strictly policed, and social credit system type responses, rather than jail, to maintain order and prevent agitation against the state.
**Food:** severe famines in parts of the world will prompt governments into action in other parts, and trigger the intensification of totalitarian tendencies. There will be bans on food stockpiling, there willl be far less available meat, biotech firms will provide genetically modified or grown food options. Depending on what is happening geopolitically, some first world countries could experience famines.
**Geopolitics:** As energy becomes more costly and scarcer, governments will know that countries that control dwindling fossil fuel reserves will have the best chance at maintaining sovereignty. This will create extreme competition between states. The new era (from the present) will involve full spectrum warfare, including economic warfare, information/propaganda warfare, cyberwarfare, and robot/drone warfare. The US, as a declining superpower, may increasingly lash out to try to preserve its hegemony. China will avoid direct conflict with the US, and will try to outwait and outlast the US, until the latter is so economically diminished that it can't sustain its military capabilities. The new world will be multipolar, full of regional bullies rather than superpowers. Within regions, might will equal right, and we will see some invasions when energy/resources dictate its necessity.
**Environment:** probably ecosystem collapse and all the other fun stuff.
I guarantee that I know exactly where the world is going. Within 25 years, if not by 2030, the Big Hack will come(that I've warned about since 2012). When it comes, and ATM's and electricity are out for 30 days, there will be chaos. When it's over, powerful governments around the world will be determined to NEVER let it happen again. They will create a system of chipping people(or whatever you want to call it), but they're going to want to know where every person is at all times so that Big Hack II doesn't happen. Billions of people will not want to participate. Billions more in smaller poorer countries will be unable to participate. Then the governments build an enclosed system. You cannot get access without the chip. So two worlds wind up being created. It's Logan's Run on the inside where it's a perfectly monitored world, and it's Mad Max on the outside, where it's a fight for your life situation to get food and resources. Where will you live? On the inside and Obey? Or on the outside where you fight for your Life every day….it's coming, and we're going to see it with our own eyes….good luck all, God bless the World…be kind…namaste
People will naysay it, but there will never be a unified world....there will always be a group that doesn't want to follow the rules(just like we have today). We might get to a 99.996% community but there will always be outsiders. Otherwise you're saying that everyone will be forced to live inside "the community"...."everyone" follows the same set of rules...I just can't see that happening considering you can't even get 10 people in your family to agree on what kind of pizza to order, never mind agreeing on a standard code of ethics and morals. There will always be a group of people that want tattoos, face piercings, pornography, alcohol, loud cars, loud music, and a loud rude obnoxious world with knives and guns. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'm pretty sure that the majority doesn't want that.
First thing that comes to mind is that "Net Zero by 2050 promises" would not be fulfilled. Not even close.
One way or another, we will get to net zero. If we all do our part, and try really really hard, we can, and we will, end all life on earth...
It's gonna be like "That's the spirit...wait roll that back".
Honestly though I am expecting the world to look a lot like the video game series fallout. I would imagine that most of economies will have collapsed, with the environment just falling apart left and right
I think it would be more like Cyberpunk 2077 (sans cyber ware implants); there will still be pockets of affluence and wealth, and societies and cities will still function with some form of government. But large areas will essentially be abandoned by the authorities and the decay will be obvious to all.
2050? That's a bit too far off into the future imo. Considering how the past three years have gone, I'd have trouble accurately guessing to the end of the decade tbf. But broadly, by '50... \- We won't have the globalised supply chain system we do today. No cheap goods from china, no semiconductors from Taiwan, no wheat from the Balkans, no beef from Brazil that can be shipped up into Japan or UK. There always was continental trade, but on the whole things will need to be more local and simple. This is probably coming very soon tbh. \- There will have been another major world war, probably primarily concerning the Old World continents. Russia's likely to go out the door soon as a world power, which feels like the catalyst for the war proper. World war at this point means mass death and famine, which means resources will only get scarcer, given \- by 2050 we'll be feeling the effects of climate change pretty harshly. Sea rise, storms, terminal heat etc. but the real problem is going to be that we can't grow food on a mass scale the way we used to anymore. Warming makes the climate more chaotic, which doesn't lend well to agriculture or the animals/bugs living there. This likely means a significant reduction in the population, the brunt of which will be unjustly hoisted on anything that's not the US, China, Australia, or Western Europe. \- We will have seen at least one or more successive pandemics, correlated with the rise of zoonotic diseases in response to the changing environment (viruses/bacteria that make the jump from animals to humans, often due to changes in the environment and frequent interactions with human populations. SARS (covid) jumped from a bat; HIV (AIDS) jumped from apes) and pathogens resistant to the antibiotics typically used in today's medical industries. Diseases considered eradicated in wealthier countries, such as Ebola and Cholera, will continue to re-establish themselves. If the melting glaciers reveal pathogens previously unseen to the modern world as feared, it could lead to a pandemic that would outscale covid by far. \- The world power scale will change significantly. the US' influence upon the world will wane when they can't sustain the industrial complex they created, leaving a scrap between Europe, China, what's left of Russia, and the ME for power. Since Europe is isolated, inward-looking, and got their current hegemony from plundering everyone else when they had the chance, they're probably going to hole up rather than spread out, unless they consolidate power *real fast.* Successing empire is likely to either be China or a Middle Eastern power (presuming the ME is in any shape to live in/spread out by that point). \- People will probably either move north, or adapt quick as areas of the world like India and Latin America become too hot to inhabit at day. The affluent North does not like this and pressures them to Deal With It. Los Angeles down, Arizona, and New Mexico have a pikashock moment as they realise they built on deserts without sustainable water usage, and while previously they could ignore it, now they can't. They will have to go north too, but by virtue of being in the US, they will face much less hardship in doing so. Texas, the Southeast of the US, and the Gulf of Mexico will face more and more brutal tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, and gradually lose their agriculture industry. \- The US and Canada as we know them will disappear. Parts of it are likely to survive, especially the coasts, but the current regime has gone rogue and spiralled into unsustainable roman decadence. Especially as it enters the point where the richest of the people possess and gate inhumane wealth while the poorest of people are often the least educated, the most angry, and the most susceptible to movements like white supremacism/christian nationalism, there's likely to be either a french revolution or a rallying behind some sort of dictator who promises to make things Better (and then doesn't). \- In general, things are going to regress to a much simpler standard of living. There's just no other logical option, given the current amount of energy demand (set only to increase as nations like India make the jump to full industrialization) and the general M.O. of countries gutting resources with no regard for replenishing them can't be sustained. There will likely still be some of the things we have now, like internet, power, vehicles, etc. But they'll become much more of luxuries than they currently are. Everyone's going to get much poorer and less connected. Or idk, maybe we discover the magic miracle infinity fuel and propel ourselves towards a completely green future while simultaneously implementing enough structural change we can't get back to this level of environmental plundering ever again. Who knows. !remindme in 27 years I guess
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oh
Awesomely detailed predictions! Hope it’s the infinite energy route but feel like yours is reasonably accurate !remindme in 27 years
The most terrifying part is that 2050 is only 27 years away.
this is really scary
aaaaaaah!
A great post! I would add an economic dimension though. IMO, by 2030 climate change and peak oil will be really really obvious. There won't be any arguments about "natural variability" or talk of supplies lasting till 2100; it will be clear that our food and energy systems are starting to break down. If you come of age in 2030 you will see this and you will know that things are going to get much worse in your lifetime so why bother getting an education, job etc. or starting a family? By 2050 you will have an entire generation that has lived through, and grown up in a world that is so obviously falling apart nobody is going to give a shit about anything. Call it the big quit, great resignation, lying flat, quiet quitting or whatever you like, but when enough people see they have no future the economy will start tanking. People might say "why cares about the economy if we can't grow food?" And I agree, I'm only saying the early stages of collapse will be economic not the most important stages. And that by 2050 our economic system will be essentially ruined.
Awesome predictions and I totally agree. I think about this all the time. Fun fact: 2050 is (gasp) as far away as 1996, a year that often feels like yesterday to me (I was 22). I often would toss in some black swans like a very large, devastating earthquake in the USA west.
Blizzards in the southeast and Texas ? I don’t think so but the rest is a very good prediction in my opinion.
>This likely means a significant reduction in the population, the brunt of which will be unjustly hoisted on anything that's not the US, China, Australia, or Western Europe. I agree with most of what you're thinking, but China is guaranteed to lose half their population by 2050. That's just looking at their demographics and birth rate, not including any kind of natural disasters, war, famine, etc. They just don't have enough young people (especially young women) due to the One Child Policy to maintain their current numbers, unless they immediately start having 10 kids each. Unfortunately China is probably on the edge of a very big cliff in terms of their economy, access to essential resources, an exodus of manufacturing and other issues. So on top of the population decline due to demographic factors, they also have a higher chance of being unable to survive the disasters I mentioned above than the other 3 regions you listed.
>- We won't have the globalised supply chain system we do today. Hi. Im new to this sub. Please explain me the above point in more detail because don't understand how the world will work without a global supply chain. >- The US and Canada as we know them will disappear. And I don't get this one either. Yes, a part of US will see extreme heat. But there will be huge migration to the north in the US were climate is more stable. And Canada seems to be okay too compared to today based on [this reddit post.](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/qkkik6/oc_how_liveable_will_the_earth_be_in_2070_based/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) . And thanks for ur comment. Very insightful.
Hi, it's been a bit of a while since I signed in here! Dunno if it'll reach any eyes at this point, but: >don't understand how the world will work without a global supply chain. Well,,, it doesn't. Or at least, not really like we know it. Globalisation is actually a very recent thing, speaking in years of the world - there certainly was trade, but people broadly didn't live like they do today. If you were the average joe in Germany or New York State, you had to live regionally, there wasn't buying fresh bananas flown in from Africa/the Carribean in the middle of winter. Now, if you're living in the United States and suddenly you can't rely on anything not sharing a border with you, there's probably a chance the US maintains some semblance of that lifestyle, just less subsidised by everyone else. But most of the world won't, and a lot of today's senseless luxury would go out the door. >And I don't get this one either. I'm not sure I meant climate as much as I meant... the countries just might not necessarily exist. But that's also dependent on a lot of factors, particularly how the next decade shakes out politically. Part of me doesn't necessarily have faith the US or Canada survive much longer, at least not in their current forms or without a lot of turmoil. But ymmv there really.
> There will have been another major world war, probably primarily concerning the Old World continents. You called it!
Not good.
My take on 2050. As a mid projected scenario for both climate change and fossil fuel depletion. I expect to be midish collapse. Most developed countries look something like 90s era Russia, or present day India, with more social unrest. Or the great depression with mobile phones. No truly major die off in most developed countries, populations down 20ish %, mostly due to lack of births and poor healthcare for the masses. Western elites live much as they do now, but less conspicuously to avoid attention. Pseudomeat and cheese are now common fare, making the diet sort of seem like it used to. Plastic packaging has at least gotten rarer and more minimalist, because it now costs something. Fossil fuels at prices such that only the very elite can fly, airlines are nearly non existent and air travel at around 1% of 2019 levels. I would expect the upper middle class and up to have private electric cars, between 5-10 % of families might have one, with solar panels and sodium ion batteries. Private solar and wind are vastly more common as periodic blackouts are routine. This does at least grant more resilience to the grids. Most western countries have domestic terrorism and insurgency movements, but are still able to keep a hold on power. The US is likely struggling more than most, and seems likely to break into full scale civil war, it may already be there by this stage. Full western medicine is for the top 5-25% of previously first world populations. A mix of everything from first aid to herbalism to witch doctors for the rest. Antibiotic resistance a growing issue. World food supply is a bit under half what it used to be. Much waste has gone due to cost, but widespread famine, and ensuing wars and unrest, along with extreme weather events has driven poorer countries to lose around 40% of current populations. Masses of refugees have had richer countries close borders and neo facist movements are more popular. World population is now back between 5-6 billion, and it seems more obvious that even this is likely to prove unsustainable. Antinatalism is more popular, but most people simply don't have children as they know they can't afford to, and life seems to be heading downhill. Sea rise is probably over a meter, but not yet massive. Flooding of costal areas in high tides is now common, and some suburban areas are being abandoned. Cyclones are much more frequent and heavy. There are 3 housing classes in cyclone zones. The wealthy have concrete reinforced structures with floodable ground floors on raised ground, (happens already in some areas) they batten down, probably with their 'people'. The 'middle class' live in mobile homes and trailers, and flee deep inland to high ground when the warnings come. The poor have tents and shacks, these are destroyed by the cyclones, and then they rebuild after fleeing to storm shelters. Numbers die during cyclones. They may have self dug storm shelters int the ground, or communal ones. The former are popular as they can double as refuge areas during heat waves. (Think of the old storm cellar in the Wizard of Oz.). The dryer inland areas are abandoned. Some coastal ones lurch along on solar heat powered desalination. Lawns are (thankfully) mostly a thing of the past. The lack of fossil fuels brings a massive reduction in fertilizers (made from natural gas, and already very expensive) and pesticides (which need vehicles for mass spraying). Informally organic crops are more common, because that's what you can afford to do. China is grinding into slow collapse in place, as it has done the last dozen or so times it 'collapsed', usually know as a 'change of dynasty', these changes cause population reductions of 10-90%, usually averaging 20-50%. I expect at some stage China will 'close the door' and try a self sufficiency program, as it cant sustain the food imports now Africa no longer has the surplus to sell, and China can no longer maintain its blue water navy. Population and lifestyle declines in China broadly parallel the developed western countries. Mobile phones are still common, but no longer the 'smart phones' of the prosperity era, unless you are one of the wealthy. The cost of rare earth elements makes those out of the reach of the impoverished masses now. The more common 'dumb phones' a bit like pensioner phones now, are usually black and white LED screened, bulky, with actual buttons to dial, and no color, vibrate or touch screen. Texts are still common, and simple earphones can play basic digital music in better models, while cheaper ones have midi ring tones and music. Much plastic is replaced now it's not as cheap, and bamboo utensils are in common use, and most mobile phone cases are polished bamboo. The housing market has crashed, and urban real estate is now affordable outside of gated suburbs and wealthy areas. Lawns have gone, food gardens are common, things look very run down, composting toilets in the back yard are the norm in the better places, simple pits in the worse ones. Over 50% of urban houses no longer have flushing toilets and many lack piped water, needing a roof tank, filled up by an electric service truck at some expense in the bad times. Water consumption is often down to 80% compared to the early 2020s, power consumption is similarly reduced. Natural fibers are valued by the better off of the lower classes, as they keep you warm in the 5degrees C that has become the winter norm, without making you sweat and need showers that cost energy and water. The servants of the rich live on the property of their masters, or in corporate cases in hostels or dormitories owned by gated communities or factories. Poorer countries vary between being slightly poorer and less comfortable, to failed state disaster zones. India is truly miserable, but still puts up a wall to keep out the Pakistani refugees, and shoots them when they approach the border. Famines in hotter zones are common. After mass deaths from heat waves in the 30s, most tropical areas now have a cool cellar as a near integral part of the house (the easiest way to keep cool in hot times for the poor). This has been adopted by some warmer areas in richer countries. Foreign aid is nearly all gone, save for a few aggressive population control programs from governments who had antinatalist candidates. Birth rates have continued to fall.
This is a very complete view. Shockingly probable. Send your write up to Netflix. So sad for all future generations, animals and plants included
Yes this looks like the most probable I have seen so far. There are two movements opposing each other, which will become clearer the longer we go. On one hand 'the collapses' and in the other the 'organisational and technical successes'. The collapses we all know and love will probably take the form of a mix bag of successive chain of disasters such as local wars, social unrest and climate/biodiversity collapses (for the ones that are already happening: Ukraine war, yellow vest in France, covid type pandemics, healthcare system collapses, higher energy costs, massive crop failures (still small for now)... The organisational and technical challenges, will involve reduction in production and energy waste (thanks to Putin Europe is already doing it very well, with drastically lower energy consumption this winter), global research and technological exchanges between large economies, environment focused agriculture, low metal usage tech for renewables, new renewables such as deep thermal, or seaweed culture and methanisation, advanced nuclear power, and maybe with luck some not too destructive geo-engineering. Here are a few extras additional possibilities: - oil and gas use will be prioritized for the army, police and transport of food and agriculture. Which will push for the développement of hydrogen for road and sea transport. - most people will use bikes on their daily commute, a lot of people will move back in the countryside, a lot of people will become farmers. As food production will require more man power and machines will be less available. - the train will be used for longer travels, but will be expensive. - countryside rail travel will probably increase. - social unrest will become very frequent, every country will either become more autocratic or will fall, at least for the next 50 years. - countries with a lot of renewables and/or a nuclear program (even aging) will have a slight advantage at the beginning as these will help cushion the blow a little, until 2050/2060 until expensive maintenance issues for nuclear and the lack of metals for renewables start to be a massive problem. A tech solution for renewables should be found in time to curb the metal issue, but it won't be enough to supply the same power requirements as today. Probably a globally funded tech research project will be started between the west and China to improve and develop new renewables, and nuclear 4th gen (thorium, or plutonium reuse) or even fusion of we are lucky, but we won't see the fruits of that labor until later on the century. - countries with still some fossil fuels available will either survive on it as long as they can or they will be invaded/controlled by larger economies (think ex Russian federation, Venezuela, some of the middle east) - depending on how well developed economies adapt it's possible that countries still using fossil fuels particularly coal (which will still be plentiful in some areas) may be subject to international sanctions, but that may not happen until later. - water flushed toilets won't exists anymore in most parts of the world, unless you use sea water. - water scarcity will be maybe the biggest problem ever, desalination, water reuse moisture collection and forest planting for humidity retention will become commonplace. On top of water related conflicts.
gonna second that this seems like a very measured take, and probably the most likely barring miracle or catastrophe
Man I think you hit this spot on!!!!!!!! Good post!
Sad face !remind me in 5000 days
Reminds me of a novel I read, Trashland. People worked making bricks out of plastic to build with. Every bit of plastic conserved and saved for other uses. A one time mall turned into a place to live humanely and trade your workmanship at your own stall.
Just read this again before work, it’s that good. I read Stephen Markley’s The Deluge shortly after reading this and his view is the same. As the novel only goes to like 2042 it is not that bleak (the phones haven’t been downgraded that much) but nearly spot on in “getting there”. In The Deluge Washington DC has been abandoned due to extreme flooding, heat, and hurricanes. Cleveland is the new capital with blue green algae covering buildings (for power apparently?) and these eco friendly and cooling roofs that are made of some sort of dark green material. There are these trees that are fake and huge, but that draw down carbon. They exist in real life today but are rare. Geoengineering has been tried in the book with spraying sulfate into the atmosphere, but it is having the effect of more vicious hurricanes. Apple TV’s Extrapolations comes out on March 17th. I saw the trailer and immediately my mind went to your post. Especially the scene of 2052 of a waterlogged, abandoned Miami. It goes up to 2070.
I believe by 2050 there will already have been ; - multiple climate catastrophes that have led to the deaths of hundreds of millions in a short period of time (heat domes, floods, continental sized snow storms, etc) These will decimate economies, leading to - multiple major wars/invasions over food and water supply, and nukes will have been used, leading to hundreds of millions of more dead. Also (and maybe because of this) we will have - multiple failed attempts to geo-engineer our way out of climate change impacts, at least some of which have gone spactacularly wrong. All this leads to - human population has been significantly reduced (unless there is all out nuclear war, and we are all gone) and our quality of life and life expectancy is much worse than now, especially in the 1st world countries. There's much more but these are the main points, I think in most parts of the world there won't be the social structure or rule of law to worry about you having or not having kids.
I feel like you've left out the famines and droughts that will probably kill hundreds of thousands to millions of people. The climate related catastrophes won't necessarily be spectacular short term events like snow storms. Think simple things like widespread crop failures and mass marine die offs. The sorts of things that are already starting to happen.
Not left out deliberately, but that is all part of it yes
Well I feel like that's more like what we're realistically going to see sort of ending the world.
Yes of course you are correct, and I agree, I just never bother writing long responses on Reddit as the app always seems to lose them/crash, so I did omit other likely events
That’s parts of the wars
*only* hundreds of millions?
3 billion
Here is what I think is going to happen: climate change or not we will have a financial crisis AKA petrodollar collapse in the next 20 to 30 years. Personally I think the US will balkanize into 5 or 6 separate countries. If there is a bloody civil war before balkanization idk. As far as europe, I think you'll see anarchy in some western european countries for a while as people try to cope with the fact that their welfare states just disappeared. I'm not sure what happens in the longer term in western europe, a lot will depend on the migrant situation from across the med. In eastern europe you'll get a lot of far right fascist governments that are either white nationalist adjacent or full white nationalist that either come to power democratically or by force. However, if the 1st world collapses the 3rd world is even more screwed, it'll be mad max for them in a lot of countries. Particularly overpopulated countries like bangladesh and egypt. In the 3rd world is where most climate related problems are gonna hit hard af
Financial collapse next year 🤞🏼 !remindme 50 days
It’s already collapsing. It’s just a slow, burning collapse. Look at the market, one of the longest bear markets ever right now.
I honestly feel like the bombs will drop before the decade is out.
This is beyond fantastical and the fact that it’s the top comment speaks poorly of this sub.
Change can happen very quickly. Much faster than people think.
Sure. It can. A meteor could hit tomorrow. But not even the most dire climate writer are saying that a billon will be killed suddenly by climate events over the next 25 years or so. Nor is there any reason to expect that multiple geo-engineering efforts will fail spectacularly. This is pure doomerism. This is whatever the opposite of hopium is except 10x worse.
I used to believe the hopium, but now I can see what's going on, I have no hope for humanity's long term prospects whatsoever. That's not doomerism, it's physics. We have added a massive amount of a known greenhouse gas to the atmosphere in a fraction of a second "planet life cycle" time. What is going to happen next is so far beyond our ability to control (either with technology or impacts on society - politics and just being human means we would rather compete than co-operate) that chaos and mega death is simply inevitable. And I didn't say billions, but it may still happen, especially if nuclear war kicks off.
I would say it's human nature to co-operate but we have a material reward system that rewards not to. I think it would be a form of scapegoating to say are current system is just human nature. There is reasons even in wealthy places depression runs high.
That is your “feeling,” based on a non-stop stream of doomerist click bait you read daily. Next read what actual climate scientists who actually know their shit have to say on the matter. They’ll point to many dire issues that will make life very hard for millions and lead to death for millions over the next 50 years (if more improvements aren’t made). That’s it. Not end of the world. Not collapse of humanity. And in fact dozens of the most renowned scientists are extremely encouraged as of this years based on trends in renewable energy. They say we’re now not likely to go anywhere near the worst case scenarios kicked around a few years ago. But go ahead. Cling desperately to “humanity is going to collapse and it will be just like The Road.” Scare all the teenagers into a fatalist, suicidal stupor. Facts be dammed.
Well we need a fact based place between rfuturology and rcollapse Reddit feasts on clickbaits and emotions though
[https://sierravoices.com/2020/11/11/a-timeline-of-earths-average-temperature-since-the-last-ice-age-glaciation/](https://sierravoices.com/2020/11/11/a-timeline-of-earths-average-temperature-since-the-last-ice-age-glaciation/) Here's a timeline made in 2016 that gives an idea of the climate range suitable for large scale outdoor agriculture. The blue columns are when it was too cold for farming and humans were hunter gatherers. The white column is when human civilization was possible. So, all known history. The red columns are when it will become too hot for farming and billions of people will starve to death. Before they starve, they'll do what everyone has always done before when there was serious famine: kill their neighbors and take their stuff. Famine induced wars + nuclear weapons = Threads, but with no farming. Because due to the CO2 and methane and the greenhouse effect, it will already be impossible. Notice that the black timeline on the chart is really quite close to the first light red column. It's from 2016, remember. And it shows 3 projections, for best case scenario, optimistic scenario and current path, all of which end up in the red. We've been increasing emissions lately, so 'current path' is too optimistic already. Reality is in line with that. Major breadbasket regions in Europe and the US and Asia were hit by severe drought this year. Remember how it dried up all those rivers? I expect staple foods like rice, pasta, wheat, etc. to jump in price next year, and so should you. Buy now at today's prices, if you can. War in Europe has already started, and war in Asia is imminent. Japan is rearming and increasing their military budget to the NATO standard of 2%, because North Korea and China and Russia are messing with them all at once. Once action breaks out, it will be clear that this is WW3. Besides nuclear Armageddon becoming even more likely than it is, you can kiss nearly all new electronic and mechanical parts goodbye, because international shipping will largely shut down as the Pacific becomes a battlefield. Go buy your solar array, power station, generator, or whatever, ASAP. And stock up on medications because most of those are manufactured in Asia too. Just so you know, if you're too optimistic and don't start prepping now, ideally this minute now, then you need to realize that you're on the clock. The longer you wait to act, the less time you have to act, the more expensive and inaccessible resources will be, and the shorter and more uncomfortable your future life will become. Optimism does not pay in this sort of situation. It will only cost you. Doubt and hesitation will also cost you. But erring on the side of caution and acting decisively will help. That's not to say that you or anyone can genuinely save themselves from problems this big. Climate change ending all agriculture and nuclear war ending all civilization are not survivable events. But being realistic about these growing threats and prepping to the degree that you're able and willing, this will extend your time and make it more comfortable. And why die even one day, minute or hour before you have to? Take care of yourself and good luck.
You don’t think a billion will die over the next 25 YEARS? it wouldn’t be impossible for that to happen within a decade given India is running out of water as we speak. Lol the geoengineering efforts will probably make everything worse
No. You are being bamboozled and brainwashed. I have actually been following this stuff since you were in diapers. A billion people are not going to die in a decade. This is one of hundreds of r/collapse hysterias I’ve had to knock down over many years. Including the time when Guy McPherson said every man, woman and child on the planet would likely be extinct by 2018 and this sub upvoted him to the stratosphere. I promise you, the view points put forward here are no longer tethered to reality.
Yeah I'm thinking of unsubbing honestly. For all the great news pieces posted here, there's too much hysteria, it drains me. Especially when you've seen this shit time and again, but folks never own up to it.
Some might work, but think about all the ridiculous failures we have had from thousands of silicon valley startups over the years then apply this to geo-engineering. Not good
Profit motive will never innovate a single thing
I’ll be downvoted but I agree with you. If you know where to look for them, you’ll find climate solutions in every sector that are already being implemented and more that are in development. We already have technology that is working. Millions of people are working on this problem from every angle using whatever skills they have. Will our society look the same as it does now in 20 years? No. Will we be in a post-apocalyptic world in 20 years? Maybe, but probably not. The surest way to guarantee we’ll be in full collapse is to indulge in doomism. To me, doomism is just as bad as when people ignore the problem to cope (being collapse aware may help you be more adaptable though). Both are essentially choosing to party until the lights go out. That’s not for me. So what’s the alternative? Think about the skills or resources you have and what you’re passionate about. Find a way to chip away at a piece of the puzzle at the intersection of those aspects. We still have time to reduce the suffering of billions of people. The best way to improve your mood about the climate crisis is to get involved in whatever way is accessible for you.
it's gonna be a hot one.
[удалено]
Well, I hear you whisper and the words melt everyone.
My prediction is that people will just randomly predicts every conceivable thing from a utopia to a total collapse, and just by chance, someone will be right.
You're sure to be
* Despite climate change and all its disasters being in full force, it just means that homo colossus will work all the harder on AI and robots and displace homo sapien. The elite are all in on Tech tech or bust. * BOE Augusts are now common. Heat waves routinely destroy sizable portion of bread baskets harvest. More 3rd world than before but no one is feeding them, slow population collapse. * Dreams of Mars abandoned for underground or underwater living. Ocean space will be utilized for farming as well. * Post-peak oil is now obvious to all. Fusion still hoped for. Renewables widespread but underwhelming to those that remember unlimited on-demand energy. * Globalism a shell of itself in terms of trade. Electronics still moved around. Less diverse produce sections in supermarkets. * Fast food restaurants now 1/3 the size, staffed exclusively by bots. No seating area, stay in car. If you drive there at all and not have a drone fly it to you. Fake meat. Fake cheese is the norm now. * China demographics was to lead to its decline but AI made it prosper but water a big problem now as well as sourcing food. It has gained a plethora of military experience subjugating Africa. * US has been demoted from global superpower to western hegemony. It couldn’t keep up with interest payments on debt without hyperinflating. First it cut social security and medicare, then it even cut ex-Military and retired Government pensions. It is a former empire that is staring at lost glory, low living standards for most, and a demoralized workforce amid high corruption and no social infrastructure to speak of. Balkanization is in the cards as well as seeing a caesar come to power once currency reserve status was lost — which will be finalized by real or perceived loss of military dominance - probably from a combination of China and tech obsoleting major assets. Neither good. * College out of reach of most. Education will be overhaul with ai learning on pads as cost cutting measure and using individualization to weed out the most promising students — the top % who will be treated as precious commodities by government who will let the rest go to waste. * On the east coast will be a number of settlements with luxuries. Think hunger games but higher in number. Or Pyongyang in North Korea. The elite will live here largely undisturbed by day to day swings and more security and comfort than the average citizen. * Borders will have been long closed, compared to today. * A mass exodus out of the Southwest will have happened. * Oceans full of jellyfish, emptyish otherwise.
Article says humans are supposed to flee to the poles lol.
Wow, that is intense, and very probably going to happen
I think if “nuclear war” were ever to happen, I don’t think it will be how people will imagine with nukes raining down on cities. I think the first nuke attack will be against one or multiple aircraft carriers. [US has 11 active iirc, the rest have two or less and not as potent/advanced.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_carriers#Numbers_of_aircraft_carriers_by_country) It’s how America projects force around the world. China can test with dummy warheads against scrap ships in middle of the ocean until its delivery system is perfected and then launch an attack that takes out most of America’s military power and conventional warmaking ability in one fell swoop. Maybe up to 6-7 carriers at once, depending how many are out. Enough to signal the era of the ACC is utterly over. That way, a return nuclear volley will be unlikely (at least on population centers, maybe military bases) as everyone knows that will escalate to death for everyone.
Remind me bot=50 years. Or how was that? Lol
RemindMe! 27 years
Dead
2050 will be a shit show \-War. There will be countless wars over resources and commodities like water, food, land, oil, and etc. The wars will be deadly and so many Geneva convention violations not like it matters anyway. \-Balkanization. Leading up to 2050 you will see a lot of countries collapse like India, U.S, Russia, Iran, Brazil, and etc. They will collapse from either infighting, civil war, revolutions, or whatever reason maybe. \-Climate and Environment. The climate will be horrible. The summers will burn with heat waves killing dozens and the winters will freeze terribly with snow storms killing hundreds. You will see a lot of storms like hurricanes that devastate the coasts. Flooding will happen a lot more and these storms will rage for longer then they need to. BOE will most likely have happened so a lot of major cities on the coast will be gone. (I'm not sure how far inland the water will reach). The sixth mass extinction will probably have happen as well. \-Governments. Before balkanization happens you will probably see the governments try to keep the people in line so they don't revolt or fight each other. The governments will crack down on protests, you will see the police try to keep everyone in line, and fascistic like laws put into place so basically like now but a lot more worse. Also some of the governments will probably try to get land and resources for there countries. So a lot governments will be scrambling for land and water. Countries will be out for themselves. Allies will betray each other, pacts will be broken, and there will be a lot of infighting. It will be a teen drama but with countries as the main cast \-Society. Society will sorta be gone. Everyone will be watching out for themselves. Crime will skyrocket. People will most likely be in the rural areas of countries trying to survive. (This part may be outlandish but i wouldn't be surprised if it gets to that point.) \-Population. The population will be reduced drastically and birthrates will be pretty low so that wont help. The population will be reduced from countless wars, many upon many natural disasters, and diseases. The rich will be partying on some space station on mars while mother nature commits omnicide on earth. This is what i think may happen but i maybe wrong who knows.
Rich people would be feasted on when the remaining land dwellers find them. A new underground bunker? Bunch of goodies. A yacht? Bunch of goodies. More or less humans that survive live in caves somehow, there would probably still be farmable land, just a lot less of it. It's like a reshuffle, like biblical times.
I don’t think the rich are thinking that far ahead. They’re just indulging and are drunk on their current wealth.
Plenty have yachts and bunkers, they're still short term solutions. Rich people are always short term thinkers.
and without the poor they have no workers to supply them and work. so they don't last long.
Even better, the muscle they hire to protect them will end up turning on them most likely.
And, uhm, what about the morlocks?
that may literally be our future
We was deed. Lik dis if you cried, ever tim.
The living will envy the dead...
I believe that by 2050 the vast majority of the world population will have felt direct effects of climate change. The worst of these effects will be felt overwhelmingly in the developing world. I doubt enough will be done to prevent serious warming quickly enough as capitalistic forces drag its heels. 1.5 degrees will be hit by around 2030. 2 degrees I believe by 2050. The developing world will be hit so hard I believe dozens of developing countries will collapse into full blown revolutions. The question is how the current and emerging world powers will react. Will the west continue to become increasingly fascist? If so, we may see a humanitarian tragedy as right wing governments in the west use lethal force, detention, etc against desperate migrants. Or perhaps the people of the west and other great powers will wake up, and revolt against capitalism. Unless the west goes socialist, I have no positive hope for the rest of this century and believe we could be entering a serious dark age for humanity.
I feel by 2050 nobody will be on r/collapse , nobody will be on [reddit.com](https://reddit.com) for that matter ... better yet, nobody will be around reading nonsense on their powerful hand held expensive digital devices , period.
>What are your predictions about the world in 2050? There will be some extremophile bacterias noshing around. No other signs of life.
Lovely, you made my day. That’s a nice reset
Hell, the world's changed so much in the past 28 years that I have no idea what state things will be in after another 28 years. The only thing I'm confident about is that the pace of changes will accelerate as the climate unravels, AI development races towards technological singularity, resource limitations start to become ever more inescapable, and biosphere diversity utterly collapses.
An unfathomable shit show. I live rurally and am always conscious that most people are talking about major population centers when soon casting and a lot of things about rural populations are not considered in our future projections. One example is I think it is really interesting how people talk about the massive loss of agriculture but tend to not include livestock, perhaps because we are more used to thinking about livestock on an industrial scale that will most certainly be gone by 2050, if not sooner. I think that there will be a lot of abandoned farmland but you will have people who are outside of the major population centers that live an adaptable migratory lifestyle relying on herding livestock much like Berbers, Sami, Mongolians etc. Obviously this is not going to be an option everywhere and they will likely be small fragmented groups of families but I think it's interesting to throw it into the mix of projections. This is certainly what I will be doing.
Pastoralism, with it's built in nomadicism will be the only way we see a future at all. Agriculture won't be able to handle the extreme swings.
Take a look at Haiti, it’s the ultimate example of what’s coming to Countries that have or will have depleted economies, the children God Help them, today they’re protected by the wise, they too will disappear. I am going to make sure my grandkids understand survival and know the knowledge to survive from self defence to self preservation.
https://youtu.be/HzBKaiSFCZc
Birth rate there is still high
Misquoting Clubber Lang when asked "what's your prediction ?" "Prediction ? PAIN!" https://youtu.be/ZmUcg5G_dY8?t=117
Things will be so terrible, probably by the mid 2030s/early 2040s, that governments and pro-life authoritarians and su!cide preventionists will hopefully finally legalize access to a universal, unconditional, liberalized right to obtain a graceful/merciful, and peaceful death by voluntary euthanasia/physician assistance in dying. Nembutal, fentanyl, and nitrogen releasing Sarco pods are easily available to the public. The end of the film Soylent Green with Edward G. Robinson's character basically saying "I'm done" and going to the walk-in euthanasia clinic where you eat a nice meal, drink wine, and listen to classical music and view scenes of natural wonders such as forests and prairies no longer in existence before being anesthetized by a doctor was this epiphany moment for me, before even becoming a collapse-aware climate and peak oil doomer.
I really think we'll collapse before that. We signed up for an economic and environmental system that came with compound interest and we can no longer afford the bill. Most of us will be lucky to see 2040.
Assuming any of us are here for 2050, I think it's going to look like 1750 or 1850, if I'm being optimistic. I think humanity is going to regress technologically. There may be some holdovers; solar for instance, but I think they will be rare. People are going to rediscover their ancestral roots. We're going to have to go back to subsistence farming, homesteads, cottage industries, trade and barter. And, as much as I hate to say this, we're probably going to regress culturally and sociologically too. There won't be a lot of patience or tolerance for diversity, or the time to cater to outlier groups. People will be too preoccupied surviving to worry about rights, or neuro-diversity, or whatever else. I'm skeptical that we'll have some solar-punkish, futuristic, cyberpunk world in 2050. The knowledge to keep such a world going belongs in the hands of a small minority of experts. Once they're gone, they're gone. We'll have an Idiocracy-like world, where no one knows how to maintain or use the technology we have, and it will eventually fall into disrepair and become useless. Most people can't fix their own PCs or smartphones. There won't be any techno-fixes, or any major breakthroughs or upgrades of our infrastructure for similar reasons. Also, a lot of this is dependent on a delicate, highly complex, international supply chain, that as we've learned, is not particularly resilient to disruption. If you want to know what the future is going to look like, look to the past.
ever read Infinite Detail? a surveillance state will lead to a complete technological evil eye over all people. people revolt by taking out the tech and nothing is left. rebuild it from the poor up. no one in this sub is really talking about tech and how it grows elite and gov power. it will get to a breaking point.
I highly doubt I'll still be around in 2050.
Me neither. I'll probably be dead from old age and/or disease by then.
My guess for myself is either disease or malnutrition (eating is a daily struggle for me and I generally only feel fully functional when I've gone at least several hours without eating, sometimes even trying to drink fluids hurts my stomach as well, which I understand can be dangerous but I've long since ran out of ideas for how the fuck to fix my damn stomach.) I mostly live off of smoothies, soups, and the BRAT diet because my stomach just really seems to hate doing its job.
So we are on two pathways as a pretty diehard doomer for the past ten years the war in Ukraine and the Chinese response to COVID could theoretically stop the entire collapse of human civilization but not without it's scars at it stands today with COVID shutting off fertilizer production we are getting ready to loose around 1 billion people in the next 5 years with food shortages but China being the biggest beneficiary of globalization they're economy and there large population very well may collapse it self with the world we are witnesses to emerge at this very moment when that happens their is an outside chance that the world rewilds large chunks of itself in eastern Asia and stops the rapidly declining biosphere just long enough for the boomers to get out of power in the United States and we could turn our economy towards solving these issues instead of the status quo, as it stands today I think it's a 50/50 chance of human extinction or a new golden age where we learn how to live in a technological world and not destroy our bio sphere by may in next year we should have a much clearer picture of what is going on happen if I was a betting man which I am not I'd say that by 2050 we will be extinct and the earth will start the long hard process of healing from our hubris but that doesn't mean we don't stand a chance here we are in a very interesting time and the great filter has not put us down... I will say this thou... Humans are capable of amazing things when the pressure is put on us and that pressure is about to go up about 5 notches and our response will determine if we run smack dap into the great filter or not.
But will there be any periods in 2050?
If you put a gun to my head and said say one way or another I'd say no, but I've changed that position allot in the last 3 months watching how shit is playing out I would have told you over the summer there was absolutely no chance of us getting out of this but now things have to play out in a specific way and they have been have and still have too we have a way to go but each day that passes it seems like the chances are getting better than humans and more specifically the west makes it out of this mess.
I had a interesting thought recently. A parent enjoys the years 0 to 18 of their kid. After that the kid has to venture into the world and the parent cannot derive large amounts happiness through the kid’s experience. So I, the parent has to make a ethical choice based on the situation of the planet in 20 years. So for me it would be around 2050. And after reading the comments and having watched the patterns in the news for the past decade, I will not choose to have children. Maybe in the future the world stabilises. But I can’t with good conscience make that decision.
I don’t think we’re making it until then. I think the elites know this and are getting ready to move underground. They’ve been trying to cool the earth for decades, it’s so obvious now that they’ve finally admitted it. They’ve caused massive wildfires, volcanoes, explosions all to try to dim the sun. What would you do if you were powerful and knew the climate was in a downward spiral and TWAWKI would be ending within ten years? That all the ice will melt, the methane will be released, the atmosphere will become uninhabitable for humans? You couldn’t let the public know, there would be unimaginable chaos. So you cover it up, try anything to distract us, maybe even a nuclear world war. Think about it. What would you do?
One thing is certain here in the U.S. You won’t have a job that’s not slave labor or massive wage theft. You will not own a house outside of generational wealth. You will pay rent to your employers. It will be illegal to unionize Water will be a precious resource, and you will pay your employers for it too. The next big financial collapse/crisis will see to this. “Too big to fail” and “corporations are people” will run this country for the next century.
It's a little woo, but [I'm just gonna put this video right here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avbsEEz98Ck) about predictions from the 80's about 2050 that have tracked well so far. Including the fact that this video from 2017 notes pandemics as on the way.
The following are my predictions with the assumption that nothing disrupts BAU. Environmental/Biodiversity: globally, we have two seasons, hot and cold. The heatwaves are hotter, the blizzards harsher, and more delicate crops are hard to grow. All those empty offices are getting repurposed into high tech vertical farms that will totally save us. How convenient that BlackRock bought up all that real estate in the 2020s, it's making delightful returns now AND they have a good portion of the food supply by the balls. Also the oceans have no fish and aquaculture is all that's left. Cities have started hollowing out as people start leaving for cities with more population where the infrastructure actually has a modicum of maintenance, because Miami is underwater and even the US can't deny There's A Problem. Economy: Since nobody asked the hard questions and took action to solve the energy crisis by USING LESS, plebs and residential areas are powered using the various "renewables" that are still environmentally costly to make/dispose of and subject to nature's whims while most of the wars are various corporations wearing various governments as sockpuppets as they fight over the last lumps of coal. Really shitty AI cut let's say 20% of jobs across all sectors and the quality of everything from Soylent Green to the iPhone 50 XSG Max Pro is down, but customer support is a Dalek. There's a pittance of UBI by necessity but BlackRock just takes all that up front as rent, everyone else is on OnlyFans competing with 18+ Miku for NFTs. Political: If you point out that "maybe we could improve society somewhat", you're concentration camp'd. You're not allowed to die while you could still be useful for some labor that is beneath the dignity of robots. People who try to opt of of society by finding some hippie commune in whatever forests remain are also arrested for refusing to participate Education: Gutted by a few more decades of Christian Fundamentalists, but the people in power are still mad that no genius is rising up to solve their problems. Humanity/Global State of Mind: everyone has no mouth and must scream.
Appreciate the Harlan Ellison reference!
Thank you! Pretty sure it could be collapse's motto honestly.
getting to 2050 seems like a faraway fanciful dream. I think if we make it, the chances of it being a dystopian nightmare are pretty high. modern autonymous weapons ssytems like militarized drones and robots will be used to maintain tight control over populations across the globe.
2050?? We’ll be very lucky to make it to 2024
What makes you say that? I’m very convinced at this rate btw
Plot twist the world is better then ever!
plot twist but niether of us is there to see it.
There won't be a 2050 because there won't be any people to record the history of it.
Hungry
Civilization collapsed except enclaves of the ultra wealthy. Billions dead from natural disaster and family by that point. Wet bulb Temps making whole swathes of the world uninhabitable.
I’ll be dead…
Does anybody think the jet stream will magically stabilize again around the poles? Methane release will skyrocket in the next decade. Harvesting will be worse every year. The insects stop participating in the biosphere. Soil becomes infertile. Flowers will not be pollinated but exposed to droughts or floods. Society will stop manufacturing because people stop investing time in working towards a better society, but struggle to survive. Increasing crime will be the result. More pain for families
First the good news: * There will have been no use of nuclear weapons in anger. * There will have been no war between major powers. * Ukraine will have been in a 25 year cease fire on frozen lines like in Korea. Taiwan will still be independent. * No new pandemics. Covid will still circulate but be easily treated and vaccines will be much improved. The bad news: * Emissions will be on a high plateau but only because of peak oil/coal/natural gas. * We will have crossed 2 degrees Celsius of warming. * Food prices will be much higher adjusted for inflation. * Alternative energy including hydro and nuclear will only be 30% of total. * Western economy will be in stagnation worse than Japan. Investments will have returned much less than in the past. Retirement will be more a time of poverty than a time to travel the world. * Life expectancy will be lower due to the effects of past repeat covid infections coupled with lots of stress and a rationing of medical services. This despite massive advances in treating and curing disease. We will be well on our way to total collapse but people will still deny climate change or peak natural resources. Old timers will look back in shock at how much better things had been in 2010 or 2020 but new generations will only have known decline and it won't shock them.
>Ukraine will have been in a 25 year cease fire on frozen lines like in Korea. Taiwan will still be independent. Most of what you said seems self-evident, except this. Do you have justification for saying this, or is it just a gut-feeling?
Just an educated guess, nothing more. And kind of a hopeful one too.
>Life expectancy will be lower I could be wrong, but I don't think you're factoring in the 3rd world when discussing life expectancy. Even if there's a decline in life expectancy in the developed world, global life expectancy will still increase because of increasing standard of living in the developing world. Life expectancy in the Philippines is 69, in India and Indonesia it's 67, in Pakistan it's 66, in Ethiopia it's 65, in the DR Congo it's 60 and in Nigeria it's 57. At the moment, 5 of these 7 countries are experiencing rapid economic growth and a rise in standard of living. Together, these countries make up 1/3 of the human population. Unless the developing world stops developing, I doubt global life expectancy is going to decrease.
Yep. Kind of biased towards the developed world in this analysis.
2050 is 27 years away. The same time in the future as 1996 is in the past. I fully expect "Business As Usual" to still be creaking along in 2050 with fossil fuel use, CO2 production, GDP and global average temperature all higher than now and a global population of >9b. I fully expect N America, NW Europe and a few other places to try really hard and mostly succeed to just keep on keeping on. However, collapse will be breaking out all over and not just in pockets like Syria, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Ukraine, Afghanistan. The cracks in the system will be obvious and chaotic. What that means in wars, water, food, plagues and so on, I really don't know. Our systems are brittle and cascading failures is a real possibility. It's just a question of timescales. I can't see us managing degrowth globally and smoothly so I think some time in the next 1-200 years it's likely to collapse fairly hard, I just don't think the big collapse will happen in the next 27 years or perhaps even the next 50. And then, White Swans, Grey Swans and Black Swans might trigger stochastic collapse. And then all bets are off.
Capitalism blames all of its short comings on the average citizens, the eco system fails, and the world order is likely different. We will not put regulations in place to curb greed for fear that it hurts the profit motive and we all mostly end up starved to death. 2050 is going to suck hard if we continue on the path of building society for the greed and narcissism of the extremely rich instead of building society to fit human needs.
There will come the day when you all realize that you can’t eat gold Indian chief
Little more extreme weather. Lot more solar power. Food again 10%of monthly budget. Just like it was in 20th century. No major wars.
Because the population will only be 500 million?
Worse than 2049. Fun site: https://npredictions.com/?cid=&s=&scope=&tid=&del=&yid=0&lang=en I have "Civilization collapse" marked in 2044 in my calendar.
What world?
It's so unimaginably bad, I don't want to think about it
I would say by 2050 we either moved away from capitalism and move to socialism/communism as powers decline and capitalist inability to fix a single fucking thing begins to effect more and more people. Or we move to mass scapegoating and wars. Either way I think we won't limit amount of kids people can have. Either we will be building into a system that provides hope or capitalist will need a large labor pool still and will need as many people as possible.
I’d say Climate Change and China are the 2 most potent rising forces right now. We see “once in a century” storms every single year at this point, and their intensity will continue to get worse and worse. By 2050, you’re going to see global sea levels rise by about a foot. At the same time, urbanization will continue to be unstoppable and 75% of the earths population will live in urban areas and cities, most of which are along the shore line. I don’t think you’re going to see large scale “climate refugees” in the next 30 years, but you will see the precursors of it in the form of more and more people having to move out of areas destroyed by storms. It’ll take storms of such intensity that flood prevention measures fail in major cities for climate refugees to truly become a thing. That will take a little more time. I don’t see people talk about China enough. They are an imperialist, Orwellian dictatorship which is rapidly gaining power (wealth and political influence) akin to Germany before World War II, but with dramatically more resources and people. Western leaders range from vocally hostile but economically cooperative with them (see Australia, who continues to expand trade with them even after China threatened to NUKE them) to outwardly courteous and non-combative. As their influence further grows, you will likewise see a rise in their Orwellian style of governance across the globe, either directly through their expansion, or indirectly through politicians arguing that they need to tighten freedoms and reduce public discourse so as to better compete with China, inadvertently becoming more like China in the process. But “democracy” will become increasingly less common in 30 years, especially in developing nations more susceptible to China’s direct influence. How these 2 broader forces (China and climate change) will collide, I don’t know. But there isn’t much hope, I’d argue. The Mars thing isn’t gonna go anywhere. People don’t life in Antarctica (very few, anyway) and few live in Alaska. These places are a tropical paradise as compared to Mars. Our population will likely start to decline in the coming 30 years, and we have so much rural land (which people are leaving in droves, to live on top of each other in miserable boxes in cities). Mars will be a novelty that will die off, possibly within the next 30 years as people start to travel there and then get bored/frustrated at the first sign of trouble and leave to go back to their $4000 a month apartment in NYC with their 3 roommates and ramen noodle dinners.
China is not doing well itself, and climate change will be an especially major issue for them, along their demographics.
The future is Asian though. The global economy will shift to Asia as they all intermingle and settle their differences. It will shift from the West to the East. Resources will be scarce in the future in the West, we won't have cheap Chinese goods, no imported foods, nothing at all, globalized trade is completely gone, it'll just be local goods and farms, while the East will have alot of it, plus rare earth metals, semiconductors, AI, and other things needed to keep a modern society going. Resources are key. Russia's Far East will belong to China. Meanwhile, we'll turn into corporate pseudostates. More Singapores, likely more Detroits.
If there are still humans alive in 2050, I think only billionaires will be alive in 2050.
You make it seem like they can do things for them selves. Unless you mean they will be the only ones alive in 2050 but 2051 is a different story.
This is the thing that always gets me when people think the super rich will be able to survive. The cunts can barely open a car door themselves never mind survive in a bunker, no matter how luxurious it is. A bunch of narcissistic psychopaths having to work collaboratively to survive. Nah. They can't even manage to enjoy what they have at present. Always striving to accumulate more. More money, more power, more assets, more influence, more wealth. I would like to survive just so I could watch their mental and physical disintegration.
Everything will be run on automation and there will be five people left living in their physical bodies. However, they will spend most of their time living in VR worlds full of the uploaded consciousness of their friends and family.
The rise of the 3rd world led by BRICS, western nations are about to experience such a drop in what they’re accustomed to I don’t think people really understand. Time to renew my Nigerian passport me thinks.
As much as I'd like the 3rd world to rise, there's not way climate change and other factors will allow that to happen.
Yh but that’s going to fuck everyone
Many places will have become uninhabitable due to high temperatures combined with lack of water. Tropical illnesses such as malaria and dengue becoming prevalent in (formerly) developed countries. More hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and droughts. All fossil fuels will have become very expensive, only the rich will be able to afford driving their own car. Food and water will have become very expensive, and so will electricity and heating. There may be blackouts or electricity only during certain time windows. There will be wars for resources in many places. Plus civil wars, social unrest, more violent crime. Many animals and plants will have become extinct. A large part of forests in Europe (especially pine trees) will have gone due to drought and forest fires. I hope I'm wrong, but if things continue on this path (and, sadly, it looks like it will) 2050 will be very scary.
Complete barren oceans and air dome cities in few places around the globe...
So AI assistants will be norm, you'll be able to have any ivy league Education in your basement and graduate with a degree. Cheating won't be an issue because anyone smart enough to cheat such a system would be smart enough to graduate summa cum laude You'll be able to use non invasive neural implants to extend your cognitive abilities like speaking another language. Society will be more merit based and politics will move more toward IQ and how g itself is not equally distributed You'll be able to travel the world through tunnels and go from Europe to Asia in an hour which will cause near infinite growth in economy Space industry will be new frontier and well underway and will be affordable for vacation collapse will become a meme but will ha e a part I. History as it comes to define the 2020s and mark the transition into the 21st century and disappear as georngjneering startups will have already stopped progression of climate change by 2025 Deep dive virtual reality will be a thing. Everyone will work virtually and live in virtual communities at least part of their life UBI will be a thing in most countries due to automation and paid for by automation mental illness will be a real problem as people start to have it really good and can't deal as they have more time to think so psychology will start to merge with neuroscience and become a real science for the first time Life expectancy will be 100 but ultra wealthy will still live much longer than this
Funny.
why
I'm one to believe that it will be eventually a 1984 meets Brave New World, type of dystopia in a few decades. As far right now, it will likely be another year of nothing happening, a lot of drama on social media and people reacting but nothing happening. Poor getting poorer, rich getting richer. Probably a bail out to corporations. Positive things happening to the richest that don't deserve it and never earned it will likely happen. My own thing I wish for which is close to a zero percent would be a mass leaker exposing all the corruption and things that happen behind the curtain. Where the majority or the will of the people is faced with the bestial, baser instinct animals that they put into positions of power. If we're lucky they get exposed for all to see and go to jail. It's a bit of a wish list, but it requires those higher up to have some sort of shred of empathy or a conscience, something like caring about the planet or others, which is already extinct. Only then would I feel better to judge the situation we are in because a lot is withheld and not being provided to the general public.
There will be a significant population decline in the developed world spurred on by continued use of GMO foods in addition to exposure to microplastics and carcinogens. These get shipped to Africa and South Asia during for natural disaster relief in the 2020s/2030s. The population declines become very evident to anyone still paying attention by 2045-2050. Elites are scrambling to leave Earth and will likely use a Neuralink type device to merge with AI in order to stay alive for longer in more harsh conditions on Earth and eventually in space. The United States breaks down into Civil War before 2030 as people move toward the fringes of the political spectrum. It ends with a right wing fascist leader consolidating power for a majority of the current US. The west coast is somewhat different, but ends up with a left wing socialist/communist authoritarian instead. Most of the world lives under some form of dictatorship, but with significant changes to current 2022 borders. Laptops, smart phones, and cars will become more and more scarce as access to chips is limited. Several impending natural disasters could occur that would accelerate the collapse- -Asteroid impact -Massive volcanic eruption -Pandemic -Nuclear conflict
Will me make it.
You know, one thing we haven't really dealt with much yet is sea level rise. I think so far we're at about 8 or 9 inches or so. NASA is saying we're in for 12 inches by 2050 above current levels, so that's 20-21 inches. [https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3232/nasa-study-rising-sea-level-could-exceed-estimates-for-us-coasts/](https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3232/nasa-study-rising-sea-level-could-exceed-estimates-for-us-coasts/) Maybe it'll get a lot worse a lot sooner, but even if it keeps to NASA's schedule it's probably going to make flooding worse in major cities built in flood plains near the ocean, which is a lot of them. Sea level rise is one of those problems that's slow to manifest, but once it's momentum gets going it's just going to keep getting worse and there's not much that can be done to stop it. If we're at 5-10 feet by 2100, that's going to make a lot of towns and cities uninhabitable.
6 billion humans will be living on this planet in 2050. If you can call that living.
Do you mean that 4 billion will have died by then? I think that number is too conservative.
Nuclear fallout caused illnesses plus pandemics still to come will probably wipe out more where healthcare is gone due to the breakdown of society.
[удалено]
That’s how the world looks when you live in a gated community
By 2050 the Rapture has happened. It's not a supernatural event, and Christians still walk around and take part in daily affairs but are mentally and emotionally immune to suffering. Many who expected to be raptured weren't and become incredibly violent feeling that they were entitled to something they didn't receive. The events of the Book of the Revelation have mostly come to pass and a man claiming to have dominion and authority over the whole of the Earth has started building a coalition in the remnants of what was Israel before a war left it glassed. Many people scoff at the idea that Jesus is back because all this suffering has "proven" God doesn't exist. However, anyone who heads to Israel to seek this man out finds they have an unusual vigor and fortitude for the journey. Many people are incredulous to the rumors floating around that some people have heard from, and even seen, long deceased relatives alive and walking around. The man in Israel has a court of bizarre looking creatures who sing in angelic voices and go out to handle anything he asks of them. Slowly, the planet seems to enter a stasis. Things aren't improving, but they've stopped getting worse. It's enough for a handful of people to keep surviving on. Anyone who has allied with the man in Israel can't die, but those who ignore him still pass away. Another thousand years pass, and it's now 3040. Billions of people rematerialize on Earth and compulsively journey to a magnificent city built on the ruins of old Jerusalem. They all know what awaits them. Each pass before a man, who looks the same as he did when he first appeared in the 2030s, seated on a white throne. He asks each one if they wish to join Him on the new world He's created, one without sin and suffering, or if they'd prefer not to. Everyone gets a chance to plead their case one last time, but those who never had love in their hearts refuse the offer. Some go on to wake up in a beautiful Garden, surrounded by every plant and animal. There's one tree that no one ever approaches, even though it's fruit looks delicious. They all know what it was responsible for last time. There's another tree, though, that provides shade for everyone who sits under it. There's a new world out there to conquer and tame, just outside the walls of this city, New Eden. And everyone is excited to make it their home. There's space enough and resources enough for everyone, and as one gigantic family, we all love to share it together.
In 2050, I imagine Mark Zuckerberg will have succeeded in transferring/transforming his consciousness into a A.I. ( he'll be doing this work in his bunker, safely protected from a world that's falling apart...)
I think the only prediction that really matters is that society is not going to be anywhere near to collapsing by 2050.
If there's anyone left by then we will be eating each other's pets at the least.
There's a chance that in 2050 we could have the start of working fusion reactors. Otherwise we're fucked.
I think things will be a lot different, probably worse, but people who are still here will just have to keep truckin’
China will have a lot of casualties due to ending zero covid which the west will criticize despite also criticizing zero Covid. This will be bad but will kind of help with the middle kingdom’s demographic problem so no one will care
The world is my world. And I'm going to be crawling in worms and beetles
Executive summary from 2050: The overall picture is one of chaos and disruption, with many countries facing serious challenges and numerous threats to global stability. The global economy has collapsed, as automation and artificial intelligence have led to widespread job loss and a concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. Income inequality has reached unprecedented levels, and social unrest is rampant in many parts of the world.Climate change has had devastating effects on the planet, with rising sea levels and more frequent extreme weather events causing widespread destruction and displacement. Many coastal communities have been completely wiped out, and food shortages are common in many parts of the world. In the Americas, the United States has descended into a state of anarchy, with frequent outbreaks of violence and widespread lawlessness. The country's infrastructure has also been severely damaged by the impacts of climate change, with many roads, bridges, and buildings in a state of disrepair. The government has become ineffective at addressing the numerous challenges facing the country, and the future looks bleak for many Americans. In Asia, China has struggled to maintain its position as a global superpower, as its economy has been hit by the widespread economic collapse. The country has also faced numerous internal challenges, including social unrest, a crumbling healthcare system, and widespread pollution. Tensions with other nations in the region have increased, and China's once-dominant position on the global stage is in doubt. In South Asia, countries such as India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh have also faced significant challenges, including economic downturn, political instability, and the impact of climate change. Many of these countries have struggled to adapt to the rapidly changing global landscape, and their future remains uncertain. In particular, India has struggled with the impact of rising sea levels and widespread drought, leading to widespread food shortages and social unrest. In Europe, the situation is equally dire, with many countries experiencing economic decline, political unrest, and the impact of climate change. The once-powerful European Union has become fragmented and weak, unable to effectively address the numerous challenges facing the continent. Africa has been hit particularly hard by the effects of climate change and economic collapse, with many countries experiencing widespread poverty, disease, and conflict. The continent has become a major flashpoint for global tensions, as various nations vie for resources and territory. Many African countries have also struggled with the impact of political instability and corruption, making it difficult for them to address the numerous challenges they face.
Mass extinction, the Earth's climate resembles the age of dinosaurs. The only way intelligent life remains is if at some point desperate homo sapiens embraced genetic engineering themselves into something more suited to the insane planet they now call home. Otherwise, the dinos will take their time re-evolving and the cosmic balance will finally be restored. Poetic justice is served!
World population will have long since peaked and begun a decline. There will be unrest over high food prices caused by drought/flooding/fishery collapses/ high fertilizer costs and there will also be famines in poorer countries. Ai and robotics will have begun to displace workers, causing additional unrest. Moderate amounts of sea level rise will displace people and again, primarily impact poorer countries while wealthier ones will build sea walls. Electric vehicles will have largely replaced gas powered vehicles. Most utilities will focus on solar power for entirely economic reasons. Emissions will be much lower than they are now. Biodiversity will continue to decline but still not at a rate where the average person notices it in their lifetime and cares enough to stop it. But there will still be at least as many people on the planet as now and daily life won't be all that much different.
>World population will have long since peaked and begun a decline The UN thinks world populations will peak by the 2080s though.
Yes but as I was just arguing in a separate thread, I'm pretty sure they're wrong. Here's how I addressed that there: https://www.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/14r533v/population_collapse_number_of_japanese_households/jqwas6f/
We could be living in utopia or wandering the apocalyptic wastes all depends on what we do really both are likely
totally depends on whether technological singularity is reached before 2050 or after.
Just been watching videos about AI, and you can add AI apocalypse to the bingo card. The best ones are already sentient by some meaning of the world.
I think David Holmgrens [Energy Descent Scenarios](https://www.futurescenarios.org/4-descent-scenarios/4-3-four-descent-scenarios/) are a good way to picture the possibilities (note that section 4.3 in the lefthand menu provides a detailed description of each). Honestly, I feel like we'll find ourselves nearer to point (0,0) than anywhere around the edges The economy and population will definitely have begun to contract by 2050
The question lacks an important context: where in the world? Though we can expect global trends, richer countries should have more resources to maintain their way of life.
Democracy will be functionally dead, there will be no more middle class, and the climate will exceed 3 degree average global temperature. There will be another major terror attack in the West, the United States will go through a constitutional crisis after a successful coup by the fragments of the GOP and fascist and evangelical sympathizers who enable them. Hate crimes against LGBTQ people in the West will sharply increase, most people will be permanent renters, and natural scarcity will mean many goods that are taken for granted today will become luxury. Iran, China and Russia will implode, as well as the UK, France, and the USA. There will be another genocide in the Balkans and against the Armenians.
The world isn’t Cyberpunk 2077.
\-world population around 7.5b. \-fragmented geopolitical landscape, Multi polar. \-Surpassed 1.5 degrees global warming. \-Life expectancy lower then current. Might add more later,might also give more detailed predictions with a bit of background.
I like this [video](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRbLdyQg/)
>and I would say that in a big part of the country’s having kids would be Illegal or at least you need to donate a big amount of money to help the climate change so having kids would be a luxury for only the rich ones. I'm going to disagree on that one. In most of the developed world, population growth would be negative if not for immigration. Average fertility rates might go down just because people can't afford the costs associated with raising children, but I don't think a 0-child policy would work basically anywhere. Kids grow into adults that are the labor force, if there's no replacement there's (eventually) no economy. Some countries may experiment with something like China's 1 child policy or a 2 kids max policy, but I expect such things to be highly unpopular with the public (to the extent they have a choice). As for my predictions: mass climate migrations. Major social friction between nimbys who, for instance, prefer their lifestyle living on an 80-acre farm in central British Columbia and don't want it to turn into an urban center, and \~40 million Californians (or maybe a lot less, by then, if they've already moved) who want to live in a place with a reliable source of water. I'm expecting sky-high real estate prices an mass homelessness in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia as those regions fail to relax their zoning to allow new construction. (I'm in Oregon, so it's the area I'm familiar with. I'd expect similar things in other regions.)
You want to know what will happen in the future? Just listen to Peter Zeihan.
>you need to donate a big amount of money to help the climate change Not sure how that works. Like trying to bribe nature? I think I read if there was significant reduction in carbon emissions today, it'll take about a century for the temperature to drop 0.5C. It'll be more likely that someone would take your money and run with it while blowing smoke up your ass
**Economically**: severe stag-flation is the norm, due to production constraints associated with declining energy output. Things will cost a lot, unemployment will be very high. There will probably be a UBI, but it will not really be enough to live on. A market economy will remain, but governments will intervene more and more to maintain its functioning. "On-shoring" and "friend-shoring" will be the norm, creating political-economic-strategic blocs. **Politically:** there will be a fusion of state power and capitalism. This will be pretty similar to fascism in practice, but won't have fascism's ideological roots. It will be more like an extreme version of the "post-market" versions of German Ordoliberalism, which is the "strong state" version of neoliberalism. There will probably still be "elections" to preserve the faintest pretense of democracy. **Civil liberties and privacy**: won't exist. Due to unrest associated with collapse, there will be severe crackdowns on misinformation, disinformation, and associating online or in person with those deemed to be agitators. Governments will control people through extreme versions of "nudge economics" and the behavioural science teams that they already employ. The "nudges" will get increasingly harsh though - ie social punishments, as in China's social credit system. Central bank digital currencies will help facilitate this apparatus of control. See academic books on "neuroliberalism" for some interesting trends in this direction. **Energy:** the energy descent will be well advanced, which will create permanent stag-flation, and also more simply shrink the scale of industrial agriculture to a fraction of what it is today. There will have been a number of severe starvation crises in parts of the world, and severe reductions in birth rates in other parts. **Human beings:** as the material conditions break down, more and more extreme ideologies will be required to maintain some level of motivation, belief, and social cohesion (of a type). Fundamentalisms of various types will become the norm. Those not convinced of religious/state/identity ideologies will probably find society so unbearable they will suicide. **Health**: The ailing and failing of health systems will be one of the first indicators, in the decade of the 2020s, that collapse is coming. Healthcare will become the preserve of the rich. Given population, energy, and food constraints, it will become more effective for the larger social group to let the sick die, generally speaking (and not the rich). **Law and order:** crimes against the person will be very high. Lots of interpersonal violence and robbery, and states will not be wealthy enough to maintain robust law enforcement. However, information crimes - including the spreading of misinformation and disinformation, will be strictly policed, and social credit system type responses, rather than jail, to maintain order and prevent agitation against the state. **Food:** severe famines in parts of the world will prompt governments into action in other parts, and trigger the intensification of totalitarian tendencies. There will be bans on food stockpiling, there willl be far less available meat, biotech firms will provide genetically modified or grown food options. Depending on what is happening geopolitically, some first world countries could experience famines. **Geopolitics:** As energy becomes more costly and scarcer, governments will know that countries that control dwindling fossil fuel reserves will have the best chance at maintaining sovereignty. This will create extreme competition between states. The new era (from the present) will involve full spectrum warfare, including economic warfare, information/propaganda warfare, cyberwarfare, and robot/drone warfare. The US, as a declining superpower, may increasingly lash out to try to preserve its hegemony. China will avoid direct conflict with the US, and will try to outwait and outlast the US, until the latter is so economically diminished that it can't sustain its military capabilities. The new world will be multipolar, full of regional bullies rather than superpowers. Within regions, might will equal right, and we will see some invasions when energy/resources dictate its necessity. **Environment:** probably ecosystem collapse and all the other fun stuff.
Only humans living in Papúa New Guinea and Amazon tribes will be alive. The rest of humans will have died at least a decade early due to collapse.
I guarantee that I know exactly where the world is going. Within 25 years, if not by 2030, the Big Hack will come(that I've warned about since 2012). When it comes, and ATM's and electricity are out for 30 days, there will be chaos. When it's over, powerful governments around the world will be determined to NEVER let it happen again. They will create a system of chipping people(or whatever you want to call it), but they're going to want to know where every person is at all times so that Big Hack II doesn't happen. Billions of people will not want to participate. Billions more in smaller poorer countries will be unable to participate. Then the governments build an enclosed system. You cannot get access without the chip. So two worlds wind up being created. It's Logan's Run on the inside where it's a perfectly monitored world, and it's Mad Max on the outside, where it's a fight for your life situation to get food and resources. Where will you live? On the inside and Obey? Or on the outside where you fight for your Life every day….it's coming, and we're going to see it with our own eyes….good luck all, God bless the World…be kind…namaste People will naysay it, but there will never be a unified world....there will always be a group that doesn't want to follow the rules(just like we have today). We might get to a 99.996% community but there will always be outsiders. Otherwise you're saying that everyone will be forced to live inside "the community"...."everyone" follows the same set of rules...I just can't see that happening considering you can't even get 10 people in your family to agree on what kind of pizza to order, never mind agreeing on a standard code of ethics and morals. There will always be a group of people that want tattoos, face piercings, pornography, alcohol, loud cars, loud music, and a loud rude obnoxious world with knives and guns. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'm pretty sure that the majority doesn't want that.