The world in a thousand years time

[stripee]

Going back a thousand years isn't that long, so forwards is only a small amount of time in a way....will humans still be here. What will the earth look like then?

Will cities dominate with wastes and excessive pollution. Will all the large mammals be extinct.... Of course, much depends on what happens with the climate, whether we get hot and dry or there's another ice age. Will the population be forced into another bottle neck caused by catastrophy such as a pandemic or nuclear war, with only a small number of humans left? Will London still exist??? Will food be grown on cultures in laboratories. Will some people be living on the Moon maybe. Or could it look very much the same, perhaps more built up, but recognisable.

[naturelover]

I dont think england will exist,it will be under water like many more parts of the land,thats what i think anyway.

[agrumpycow]

Originally Posted by naturelover

I dont think england will exist,it will be under water like many more parts of the land,thats what i think anyway.

I don't think England will be totally under water (it would take a huge climate change for that to happen), although, I think the coastal outline will of changed with areas nearer see level lost.
If the global temperature change continues as it has in recent years then I think the geography of a lot of countries will have changed, as will the climate and as a result of that the variety and distribution of species.

It would certainly be interesting to be able to take a peek into he future to see what happens...............

[stripee]

I think we will still be here, the large mammals will have all gone, the environment will considerably more modified everywhere by human activity, and more areas will be uninhabitable due to drought, ice or higher sea levels. Humans will be concentrated in mega cities. London will exist, although maybe relocated further inland, cities will be more or less continuous, countryside areas will be much diminished except in inaccessible places. Living space will be at a premium. Although population levels will have stabilised. Food may be grown artificially, solutions to waste and transport and energy would have had to be confronted. A pandemic would only have a temporary effect, and warfare that wipes out the entire world would not be that likely. An enormous volcanic eruption may occur, but again it might not happen for thousands of years. Maybe someone will set up home on the moon, or it will just become a giant supplier of moonrock. We will be living in a more artificial environment. Maybe with those flying cars!

[tufftie]

Gosh, this is a hard one..but interesting, there are so many ifs and buts, so many possible outcomes The sad and frustrating thing is that so much depends on how we act; we are so over populated that unfortunately our actions do make an impact on the planets natural phenomenon.

So having said that the way i'd like to see it turn out is this (though i think it unlikely.); There is no European government of heavy duty world leaders throwing their weight around - politics is localised with the emphasis on community and environment. Our lifestyle has changed completely and for the main part we are no longer living in a materialistic age - this has to be the case if we are not to destroy the planet. We are living at human speed and not machine speed and have more time for the community, family and surrounding nature. We are all self sufficient, or at least partly so and things are environmentally friendly. We have gone round in a spiral but to what age i'm not sure (I don't think things go round full circle but full spiral because nothing can ever be quite the same). As for nature and wild areas - they will have changed because the climate will be different but quite how i'm not sure.

I hope it turns out like this - otherwise i dread to think what the planet and likely other planets will look like and space will be our trash can.

[demicav]

I think many animal species will be extinct. The world will be overpopulated with people. The UK will have little or no rural areas left and everyone will be wearing a mask in the big cities due to all the polution (like they do in China). More and more people will be housed in high rise flats due to lack of room. Oh I know, total pesimist I am . Seriously though it could be as bad as all that.

[hank]

Global warming will make less and less land area available for habitation, so the worlds population will probably be much less that it is now. Fossil fuels will be long gone and energy generated from natural sources will be the norm. They will probably have sorted out the JET project and have an abundance of free energy. The internal combustion engine will have be replaced by a Hydrogen cell motor ( which will have been perfected 950 years previous ). Comuting via sub orbital vehicles will be commonplace.
The BBC will still show The Great Escape every Christmas - but it'll be via 3D TV.

[stripee]

Maybe fertility levels will fall so that many people don't reproduce, and the population will be smaller. With other civilisations that have failed, along with climate change, it has been because of depletion of resources, then the environmental damage becoming extreme, followed by starvation, and people moving elsewhere. So we won't have that choice, with smaller amounts of land available, but maybe we will have devised sustainable strategies for keeping us going by then. Also perhaps more equal sharing of resources between people will become essential, and excessive consumption will be outlawed For the animals and plants though, some will still be here, but most of the vulnerable ones will have become extinct. If an animal needs a large amount of land to survive or a particular type of unusual habitat then most of them won't be there in 1,000 years, unless in captivity, although you never know, perhaps some will make it, I hope so.

[oneworld]

I just wrote a depressing post and then deleted it in an attempt to be more upbeat and positive

They will have found out how to extract DNA and will be able to reproduce any extinct animal and reform (terraform) it's habitat. We will of course live in orbit on luxury space pads and have holidays on Earth.

Dolphins will be news readers

Computers will work perfectly without glitches (hmmm that might need more time)

Invisibility and safe suit (I'm thinking of a force field sort of thing) for stalking wildlife - walking amongst a pride of lions etc

Peace, prosperity and great scientific and artistic advances.

Well - I don't believe it but it a nice idea

Jas

[hank]

Originally Posted by oneworld

I just wrote a depressing post and then deleted it in an attempt to be more upbeat and positive

They will have found out how to extract DNA and will be able to reproduce any extinct animal and reform (terraform) it's habitat. We will of course live in orbit on luxury space pads and have holidays on Earth.

Dolphins will be news readers

Computers will work perfectly without glitches (hmmm that might need more time)

Invisibility and safe suit (I'm thinking of a force field sort of thing) for stalking wildlife - walking amongst a pride of lions etc

Peace, prosperity and great scientific and artistic advances.

Well - I don't believe it but it a nice idea

Jas

I like it !

What are you on !!

[oneworld]

Just a glass of wine and an empty stomach

Don't encourage me - from my other (better???) half

Jas

[tufftie]

Originally Posted by hank

Global
The BBC will still show The Great Escape every Christmas - but it'll be via 3D TV.

Well, just as long as they don't show Gone With the Wind on Boxing Day - that will be fine !!!

[Adam Cheeseman]

Originally Posted by naturelover

I dont think england will exist,it will be under water like many more parts of the land,thats what i think anyway.

That's one hell of a lot of polar melt water

[coasty]

The government will still be discussing global warming
There will be many eden style projects around the country so people can see how the english countryside was, They will contain breeding colonies of the extinct UK mammals ( that will be anything bigger than a rat ),,
The sea will be full of static fish breeding stations as all other fish will have been overfished to extinction
Arsenal will still be trying to win the Champions League.
The country will be run from in new parliament in Manchester as the old one will be under water.
The new parliament building will be called the Sir Alex Ferguson centre,,,,

[zan]

interesting question. I'm going to go with the depressing one to start with...
It depends on so many things, but I'd be suprised if it was all roses for humans. Even if we got climate change under control, the potential for e.g. nuclear war in that time is huge (I can't imagine global disarmament will come about any time soon) - inevitable if we let the clock tick long enough. So it probably depends if we manage to outdo ourselves and survive the next 1000 years with less conflict and more stability than we've managed in the last 1000 years.

Environmentally, I think we're already moving in the right direction. A global military catastrophe would undo all that work, but environmentally speaking, we should probably still be about. What else survives with us is another matter!

Space travel will probably be common by then, although whether we've met any aliens star-trek style would depend on physics, the intricacies of which I'm not up to speed on Maybe we'll even have started paying proper attention to the seas and be living down there too!

There was also an article in new scientist recently about how 2008 might be the first year we get time travellers, because it's the first year we'll create something fancy and physics-y to theoretically allow it to happen. That would be cool, and if anyone from the year 3008 wants to show up and prove me wrong, I'll be happy to withdraw my predictions

Zan

[Heart-shaped World]

What about the black hole scenario - one of the particle physics experiments inadvertently generates a black hole! Whoosh, gone!

(Well it brought up the half century)

[rlchew]

Given what has happened to our planet and its biodiversity in just the last 100 years, I can not see much at all being around in 10,000 years other than a barren, polluted wasteland.

I know I will not be here .... unless I am the first immortal human being .

I have to say I do feel pessimistic about the world's future even with the onward march of science and technology. Even if the world does survive, will it be one that we want to survive in?

Yes, doom and gloom but as a Man United fan the thought of Arsenal still trying to win the Champions League 10,000 years on and a new Parliament building named after Sir Alex Ferguson (as per coasty) did cheer me up briefly.

Richard

[Sparrowlegs]

Originally Posted by rlchew

Given what has happened to our planet and its biodiversity in just the last 100 years, I can not see much at all being around in 10,000 years other than a barren, polluted wasteland.

I know I will not be here .... unless I am the first immortal human being .

I have to say I do feel pessimistic about the world's future even with the onward march of science and technology. Even if the world does survive, will it be one that we want to survive in?

Yes, doom and gloom but as a Man United fan the thought of Arsenal still trying to win the Champions League 10,000 years on and a new Parliament building named after Sir Alex Ferguson (as per coasty) did cheer me up briefly.

Richard

I agree with Richard, the world has little hope of survival given the balance of evil currently being committed to the Earth's eco-system. There are far to many people just burying their heads in the sand and hoping Mother Nature will pull through of her own accord. Mankinds greed will overcome his reasoning and seal his fate. Not unlike Man Utd's trip to Stamford Bridge in the near future .

[stripee]

'Enjoy life while you can' | From the Guardian | The Guardian
James Lovelock thinks we might as well just enjoy life now as the future is dim..
I think some humans will be still be here in 3008 writing on their high tec screens, and living in housing pods in high rise buildings eating and drinking daily requirements of nutrients grown from fungi or algae. The great diversity of wildlife more or less gone or completely messed up and too far gone to think about anymore, although I expect rats will still be in the buildings with us
But even children around now are going to have a very challenging time ahead.
I just hope a new planet just like earth is never discovered, so we can go and wreck it too, that would be terrible

[richardkm]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

That's one hell of a lot of polar melt water

All the floating polar ice can melt and it won't make one iota of difference to sea level apart from the change in volume due to water temperature change.

I would like to think that as a species we would learn not to be so destructive of our habitat, but I suspect the political mind will persist and continue to ignore what is needed to protect us and the other inhabitants of this planet.

My major concern, however, is there won't be Terry Wogan on in the morning to cheer me up!

[therealbobbo]

There will be no polar ice caps!There will have been plenty of eartquakes,in britain,and perhaps it will be a giant volcano,by then,but there will be no humans left,so polution will surely be on the downslide,bobbo:conf used:

[Sparrowlegs]

Originally Posted by therealbobbo

There will be no polar ice caps!There will have been plenty of eartquakes,in britain,and perhaps it will be a giant volcano,by then,but there will be no humans left,so polution will surely be on the downslide,bobbo:conf used:

.......but what about Terry Wogan?

[annmaria]

Your all ( almost all ) wrong, man is going to use its noggin and bar sacrifice a few hundred million ( or billion )it will remain top dog.......I just hope it learns not to repeat its mistakes ( fat chance)
Annmaria

[badgerwatcher]

Want a tenner on it, Annmaria?
I believe radiation levels in space are too high to make living on the moon practical.
I think we will be back at the beginning of the cycle, maybe inventing the wheel