Humans are a very prosperous species and it seems likely we’ll have descendants on Earth for hundreds of millions of years. Even if we manage to destroy civilisation, any group of survivors could be back up and building cities in a geological instant.
As longs as climate doesn’t change faster than we and our food systems can adapt, scorching heat, unbreathable air and raging storms can end our prosperity in a geological instant too.
It’s so, so far between where we are now and dying.
The Inuit survived with primitive tools, no land prey or edible plants and almost no wood in an environment that’s lethal within minutes without protection. We’d have to somehow be in tougher conditions than that even with our technology. Basically, if there’s still flies or earthworms, there will still be some of us clinging to life somewhere.
At worst, fossil fuel-induced climate change might cause large-scale migration away from the equator, maybe mostly in poor regions. In no scenario is the air unbreathable (and if it were, there are ways to adapt to that as well). It’s not even sure to cause a decline in harvests, because many agricultural regions will benefit from hotter temperatures and CO2 fertilisation.
Other animals and whole biomes will probably be fucked. Our quality of life will be degraded. But, there will still be future generations to judge us.
As longs as climate doesn’t change faster than we and our food systems can adapt, scorching heat, unbreathable air and raging storms can end our prosperity in a geological instant too.
It’s so, so far between where we are now and dying.
The Inuit survived with primitive tools, no land prey or edible plants and almost no wood in an environment that’s lethal within minutes without protection. We’d have to somehow be in tougher conditions than that even with our technology. Basically, if there’s still flies or earthworms, there will still be some of us clinging to life somewhere.
At worst, fossil fuel-induced climate change might cause large-scale migration away from the equator, maybe mostly in poor regions. In no scenario is the air unbreathable (and if it were, there are ways to adapt to that as well). It’s not even sure to cause a decline in harvests, because many agricultural regions will benefit from hotter temperatures and CO2 fertilisation.
Other animals and whole biomes will probably be fucked. Our quality of life will be degraded. But, there will still be future generations to judge us.