End of Days: Global Warming — Most likely to be the Cause of a Near-Extinction for Humans

Photo by Roxanne Desgagnés on Unsplash

Global Warming is one of the largest threats to humanity. It ranks right alongside weapons of mass destruction, mutating super virus’, and Rogue AI technology. I would argue it’s the sneakiest, and it’s the most likely of the threats in which the real danger is extinction.

It is within the subtle nature of the damage’s onset, combined with unclear data from the past as to whether or not changes to the global climate have ever fluctuated or changed as fast as they have been. My gut says no.

The fact that the climate has been gradually changing is truly the thing that makes it the most dangerous. There is no sudden, overnight drastic changes and thus no sign blinking neon lights saying ‘warning’ it’s what has lulled much of the population into a false sense of safety.

Unfortunately, like old age and dying — people don’t like to think about global warming, so the problem stays out of their mind as something that they cannot really conceive of as a problem right now.

People tend not to notice things or feel alarmed by them if those changes are slowly introduced, and sadly it’s an absolute certainty that the planet is changing due to the greenhouse gasses.

A recap of 2022 shows an ever-changing and more destabilized weather pattern across the globe. Some might argue that snow in areas never having snow before is evidence that there is no real threat however, we have to remember that the increases in temperature won’t just make it hotter, but it will increase the likelihood and increase the frequency of extreme weather.

In 2022 the US seen record snowfalls and a blizzard that engulfed the United States burying one part of New York under 52 inches of snow putting 1.8 million homes without power with temperatures in some areas hitting -40, and it was deemed the worst storm that hit the US in 50 years. We also seen the following:

• Typhoon Nanmadol in Japan was the biggest of its kind in decades, flooding Japan in September 2022 causing mass flooding and mud slides caught 9 million people off guard, and they had to evacuate. It equalled into a loss of 350,000 homes while bringing record winds of 234 km/h.
• Monsoon in Pakistan between June and October 2022 affected 33 million people, with more than 4 million hectares of land destroyed. Pakistan is one of the top ten countries that will be hammered on the hardest as global warming trends continue.
• Australia had insane amounts of rain during 2022 which brought an entire year worth of rain down on the country in 3 days with some regions reporting 31.5″ of rain in that short period. The dangerous flooding took out roads, bridges and put out 50,000 residents who were told to evacuate or given notice that evacuation orders were given, and also it was declared a national emergency.
• Denver had a snow storm in the middle of May while Antarctica had a heat wave that was 20° warmer than its normal temperatures for three days in a row coming in at 0° and causing a massive melt, setting the record for the hottest temperature for the region in recorded history.
• Imagine if it went from 35° to 55° for 3 days in mid-summer, a twenty degree increase is jaw dropping.
• Lake Mead in the US, which is the largest fresh water reservoir in North America, shrank by 30% in 2022. There was record-breaking cold weather in Brazil in May 2021 while seeing temperatures hit 43° and the Southern tip 35° F.
• At the same time, France had record high temperatures between 92° and 96°. Also, during that summer Oregon had the largest number of forest fires ever recorded, and they required 2000 firefighters to tackle the wildfires which took over a month to get under control.
• With the Indian Ocean getting warmer, Mozambique has seen an increase in tropical cyclones, where March 2022 seen more cyclones more frequently and with increased severity.
• There was also a deadly storm in Europe during January 2022 named Malik, which stopped transport and bridges from being available. The winds and storms causing 130,000 homes to go without power, causing a declaration of emergency orders to stay home in Germany.
• Indonesia seen a cyclone in April 2021 displacing 22,000 people, damaging cities in Australia days later.
• Madrid had record-breaking snow storms which brought the city to a standstill.
• China had extreme flooding in July 2021 where the water was so high it was leaking through the metro train doors.
• Kentucky had the most tornado outbreaks in the US history, with more than 30 touch-downs leaving 11,000 homeless.
• Huge wildfires in Europe, Greece, Turkey and Italy causing Evia to be evacuated in Greece.
• Saharan sand drifted into Europe covering the Liberian peninsula, creating an ominous orange glow everywhere
• In 2021 temperatures soared throughout the Pacific Northwest
• In Sydney, the March 2021 floods impacted people greatly.
• Louisiana and Mississippi were hit by a Hurricane in August 2021 with a maximum wind sustained of 241 km/h.
• Two months in India during March were the hottest on record in 122 years, causing spring to be skipped straight into summer, which is repeating this year.
• Moscow had record setting heat every day in June.
• The North East was pounded by snow and ice from New Mexico to New England.
• Malaysia had 125,000 people evacuated from major flooding with unusually heavy rainfall.
• The Philippians were hammered hard in 2022 relentless landslides did a major number to the city of Bay bay effecting 139,000 all together.
• January 2022 had a storm hit the US, leaving 100,000 without power
• Nepal had heavy late monsoon rains in October 2021.
• Alabama had the most Tornado warnings in the US and suffered major damage from hail storms and floods.
• China had to cancel school and air flights due to dust storms
• Fiji had cyclones that caused 10,000 people to take refuge in evacuation centres across the country.
• All of this instability has provoked rising ocean temperatures and the rising ocean levels expedited by the melting of the glaciers.
• Venice, Italy faces the threat of sinking out of existence with it lowering 2mm every year, the rising high tides will soon submerge the city
• The Male, Maldives island are very much at risk for being overtaken by the rising sea levels as the capital's infrastructure is at risk from the airport to the entire island of Huhumale.
• New Orleans is a major concern of loss as sea levels rise, and the levee defences are not going to be enough to hold back the threat. 80% of the 2005 damage in New Orleans was the result of the levee walls failing.
• Basra, Iraq is going to be an early city that gets lost due to the canals and sea level which gets compromised by the waterborne diseases they are susceptible to.
• Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam are very much at risk, with the city very likely to be underwater by 2030.
• Amsterdam is another area that is a risk, with their water barriers to be tested in a big way by 2030.
• Savannah, in the USA, is likely to be lost as it sits in a hurricane hotspot with the Savannah river threatening to flood the city with a hurricane.
• Coastal Cities like Nagoya Japan will be early losses likely timed by a typhoon
• Port Said in Egypt is at risk as the Government begins to build barriers out of sand and concrete

Considering how rare that, major fluctuations and storm severity used to be — it seems clear that the increased activity is without a doubt due to the effects of Climate Change. Still, the planet is largely functioning with deaf ears as we see some of the more advanced nations making some slight reductions, there is debate amongst some of the nations that had more aggressive targets as to whether or not they were going to scrap the targets and revert back to the ones they had previously. To further make things worse, we also still see developing nations investing in carbon based generation.

We see in Africa the first real signs of distress on the population. Their land is being eaten by desertification and the rivers are drying up which is going to create a significant problem for a continent that was already expected to have the highest growing population rate at a time when drought will inevitably bring starvation.

Sadly, when famine really starts to hit the African continent we’ll see a surge of help at first but as the drought begins to be a permanent fixture Africa will start to see its aide dry up from the rest of the world and there will be some extreme instability in the region. It will be ripe for genocide once things get bad enough, and we aren’t actually that far away from it, either.

We are at the 11th hour, and I suspect we are the last generation that is going to know life as we do right now. The world is at a boiling point and something is going to give and when it does, it’s going to create enough turmoil that the way we live life right now will become very different in the future.

So enjoy things as they are while you can. Change is coming and that is a certainty.