The Biology of Earth in 2050

The three biggest threats to the nature in 2050 are:

The greenhouse effect

The greenhouse effect is vital for life on Earth. If it wasn't for the greenhouse effect, all of Earth's solar energy would be lost back in space, leaving Earth a cold, frigid wasteland like Mars. The greenhouse effect binds the solar heat energy with carbon dioxide, which is despite it's relative scarceness such a dense gas that it keeps that rays from escaping the atmosphere. After the so called Industrial Revolution the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere has, by year 2050 increased by 30%. This is the cause of a rapidly accelerating greenhouse effect that has so far increased Earth's median temperature by 4 degrees Celsius and has caused the sea level to rise. Scientist have not been able to control the heating of the atmosphere and especially the industrial countries have been relatively passive in their approach. When the Pacific Islands found out that a rough 30 % of the islands were going to be submerged, the heads of state made every effort to get the industrial countries to remedy the situation quickly. Nothing was however achieved until it became clear that a large portion of Florida, parts of Africa, central Europe and the Indian coast was also going to be submerged. In fact, the rising sea level has changed the world map significantly. With the eventual depletion of fossil fuels, all countries were forced to seek other alternative energy sources. Even though there are signs of the carbon dioxide emissions levelling out, it doesn't do much good anymore, as large scale forestry operations have destroyed the most important of carbon dioxide consumers, the forests. The forests have been cut down so efficiently that the emissions would have to cut radically in order to stop the greenhouse effect. Another factor is the structure of sea water. As sea water warms it releases carbon dioxide which in turn accelerates the greenhouse effect. This is the grounds on which the sea level is going to continue rising until all of the polar ice caps have melted. The 1,5 meter rise reached in 2050 is not going to level out. Another 1,5 meter may be reached during the next decades. Global warming has increased the amount of rain on the planet by roughly 10% on areas of heavy rain. For locations that in the 1990s were suffering from flood this has proven fatal. Drought areas have been increasingly dry. In countries where seasonal changes were distinct, have suffered from wet, black winters. Even in Finland a white winter is a rarity. Different species have reacted in different ways to increase in the temperature. For instance, the malaria-spreading parasites and mosquitoes have adjusted surprisingly well, and procreated with a boom, and spread from Africa far into southern Europe. Viruses are increasingly resistant and spread rapidly both among humans and animals alike. Pests do not as a result of the warm winters die, but live on year after year and thus force farmers to act with even more potent pesticides.

Ozone depletion

The results of ozone depletion are among others; increases in cancer statistics, decreases in the fish population and general suffering of animals. As the ozone content in the lower parts of the atmosphere increases, it starts to kill plants, especially. But the depletion in the upper parts of the atmosphere threatens all life on Earth as it prevents strong UV radiation from reaching Earth's surface. UV radiation causes cancer in living beings, especially melanoma in furless living beings and it also kills plankton from the seas. Plankton depletion causes a terrifying chain reaction in the food chain as the fish population dwindles. The chief agent responsible for ozone depletion are: freon and additional ozone consuming gases. These are gases that destroy ozone without depleting themselves. Other gases consume ozone over the time span of years, even a hundred years. This long time span is a grounds that several governments frequently use when justifying doing nothing, as the damage has already been done. Even though in the 2020s most of the countries of the world were convinced to ban freons, other harmful chemicals and still used in the explosives and refrigeration industry.

Radiation Damage and Mutation

As a result of unforgivable carelessness and cover-ups, several species of fauna and flora have undergone changes outside their normal behaviour. The most comprehensible examples include the changes in the fish population on location such as Borneo in the Pacific. As a result of extensive war measures large quantities of radioactive materials have been dumped into the area. The results, when in touch with a living organism, are unpredictable. For example, the Clownfish in the Borneo area are losing their immunity to the defensive extracts of certain plants in the area, thus breaking the almost symbiotic relationship these have shared for centuries. No-one can predict how this will affect the survival of the species. Last year the first serious omen of disaster was spotted near the Atlantic coast of Northern America. The genes of a species of whales were mutating. The humpback whale in question had fins as large as the rest of it's body. This species lives solely on plankton and has started to grow teeth as a result of changes in the gene pool induced by radioactive plankton. The teeth are uncannily similar to the teeth of a great white shark, except for being five times larger. In addition certain species of whales have accelerated their growth. Whereas these whales once were 12 meters long, they now reach even lengths of 15 meters. Scientists are working on worst case scenarios of this species of whales keeps growing and becomes aggressive. An ocelot found in a Mexican desert, had an abnormally large head compared to the rest of it's body. The ocelot had not lived for long as hunting had become increasingly difficult with age. During the dissection extreme amounts of radiation were measured. The Mexican vampire bat has also shown signs of change. Some bats have shown an increased brain capacity and have managed to intrude into houses through bolted doors and windows. Some have even crawled into beds and waited for it's prey there. As a result of this a rabies epidemic broke out in Mexico as they spread rabies to humans. increased radiation in plants is nowadays so common that less attention is paid to it than is proper. Some plant that used to be common have now disappeared altogether, others have changed their genes so radically that they have to be classified as a new species. Some have confusion in their reproductive mechanisms or have spread into areas where they have never been encountered before, causing severe problems for local agriculture.