After recently being part of a conversation between a large group of people, containing 3 different generations, the views and fears of the future do not appear to be overly optimistic.
There seems to be a belief among some of the public that the world is going to collapse into complete disorder over the next years. People are considering crazy future models of our earth, based upon reports (possible scaremongering), obvious changes in weather and predictions of sea level rise. These predictions, such as the loss of Greenland, is sparking fear in many that there will not be a world to save for much longer. Ideas that as sea level rises, war will break out over territory and there will be a recession to an almost prehistoric time; that all we have created and invented will be lost and people will be forced to live by nature alone. But there are two opposite sides to the coin. Some are looking forward to a future full of space age style technology and a super human race whereas others it seems are predicting cavemen and spear hunting? It seems that some of the general public are geniuinely worried that situations such as those in films like ' The Day After Tomorrow' could be a reality. Recent weather is supporting these fears with massive changes from one year to the next, freak storms and spells of extreme sunshine or rain. Although many will claim that there is evidence to back up these fears, aren't we just always afraid of something? New disease epidemics that would resemble the plague come forth nearly every year such as SARS, bird flu and BSE, fears over natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions that would give Pompeii a run for its money, unfounded worries of Y2K...we have to wonder whether once again we are expecting the worse because we are conditioned to?
Just a link to back this up, written in 2003, this report claims that our beaches will be gone in just 100 years - extreme much?
http://www.mlssa.asn.au/nletters/october2003.htm
Is this really the future we are facing or are we suffering from scare mongering by the media and those wanting to kick push the world into change?
