The Future??

by Doug Ordunio

Steven Spielberg created the film A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) in 2001, based upon an idea that formed in the mind of the late Stanley Kubrick.

If you recall the beginning of the film, there is a picture of ocean waves. A narrator explains the state of the world in the mid-20^th century. It is a world in which global warming has led to ecological disasters all over the world, and a drastic reduction of the human population.

In 2008, I wrote a series of three poems called Deserts (Sahara, Gobi, and Antarctica—the latter, in a technical sense—the world’s largest desert)

At the conclusion, it says:

With global warming

Will it all disappear?

Two hundred feet the waters will rise

Say goodbye to New York, Hong Kong,

Amsterdam, Venice, Miami.

Sydney and Tokyo

And don’t plan on traveling

Beneath Golden Gate Bridge

Except in a rowboat

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In the news here, at the beginning of May 2009, the dire predictions may be arriving sooner than you think. Currently on the NASA website, you can read the following:

Far from being some future fear, global warming is happening now, and scientists have evidence that humans are to blame. For decades, cars and factories have spewed billions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and these gases caused temperatures to rise between 0.6°C and 0.9°C (1.08°F to 1.62°F) over the past century. The rate of warming in the last 50 years was double the rate observed over the last 100 years. Temperatures are certain to go up further.

But why should we worry about a seemingly small increase in temperature? It turns out that the global average temperature is quite stable over long periods of time, and small changes in that temperature correspond to enormous changes in the environment. For example, during the last ice age, when ice sheets a mile thick covered North America all the way down to the northern states, the world was only 9 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit colder than today. Much of modern human civilization owes its existence to the stability in the average global temperature since the end of the last ice age—a stability that allowed human cultures to transition from roaming, hunter-gatherer societies into more permanent, agriculture-supported communities. Even the temperature change of a degree or two that has occurred over the last century is capable of producing significant changes in our environment and way of life.

In the future, it is very likely that rising temperatures will lead to more frequent heat waves, and virtually certain that the seas will rise, which could leave low-lying nations awash in seawater. Warmer temperatures will alter weather patterns, making it likely that there will be more intense droughts and more intense rain events. Moreover, global warming will last thousands of years. To gain an understanding of how global warming might impact humanity, it is necessary to understand what global warming is, how scientists measure it, and how forecasts for the future are made.

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I realize this is a writing website where people allow their creative juices to flow and we all try to think about ”happy” things. Unfortunately, there are bigger realities in the world whether you like it or not.

Since as you can read above, global warming will last thousands of years…better take a long nap.

DougO

The seven “imprinting” words from A.I.

Cirrus

Socrates

Particle

Decibel

Hurricane

Dolphin

Tulip