2090-2099 Contents

2090 - Traditional religions are fading from European culture | West Antarctica is among the fastest growing areas in the world

2095 - Many of the world's languages are no longer in use | Manned exploration of the Saturnian system

2099 - Sea levels are wreaking havoc around the world | 83% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed

 

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2090

Traditional religions are fading from European culture

In some European nations, the number of people considering themselves to be non-religious has increased from around 30% in 1980, to over 90% now.*

Although large numbers of Muslims populate the continent, a substantial portion are now only "culturally" Muslim, rather than having a literal interpretation of the Koran. Mainstream Islam has begun a reformation and modernisation in recent years - aided by vast improvements in education, combined with the broad homogenisation of culture resulting from globalisation, the Internet, various international agreements, economic stability and other factors.

Medical advances are undermining religion as a whole, by greatly diminishing the fear of death, while developments in AI, robotics and biotechnology are beginning to trivialise the miracles on which many ancient religions are based. The increasing presence of androids in society - along with other forms of sentience - is adding a whole new dimension to the way humans view themselves and their place in the Universe. The ability to communicate with certain artifically enhanced animals (such as dolphins, monkeys and domestic pets) is also contributing to this trend.

Spirituality continues to play a role in European cultures - but is now based more on nature and physical reality, rather than myths, dogma or supernatural forces.

The USA still lags far behind Europe in terms of atheistic belief, however. It will be another century before America reaches the same level; even longer for certain parts of Asia. Even then, a small percentage of citizens will continue to worship a God (or Gods), well into the next millenium. These people will tend to be those who reject science and technology, or have purposefully chosen to isolate themselves from the rest of the world.

Click to enlarge.

 

 

West Antarctica is among the fastest growing areas in the world

The icy continent today would be unrecognisable to observers from the 20th century. Its northern peninsula is now home to a multitude of towns and conurbations, with a total population numbering in the millions.

Melting of surface ice has resulted in conditions appropriate for large-scale human settlement.* Even farming and crop growing is now possible in some of the most northerly areas. Air temperatures in the polar regions have increased more than anywhere else in the world - meaning that parts of Antarctica are now comparable with the climates of Alaska, Iceland and northern Scandinavia.

Huge levels of immigration are now underway from countries all over the world that have been affected by climate change, creating a diverse mixture of people and cultures flocking to this new land of opportunity. In some ways, the settlement of Antarctica is similar to that of America in the 18th and 19th centuries. The highest density cities are becoming cultural "melting pots" similar to New York and London.

The world is rapidly moving towards a situation where certain equatorial regions have been abandoned altogether. Enormous deserts now cover Africa, southern Asia, Central America, parts of the southern USA and even southern European states.*

 

© Luca Oleastri | Dreamstime.com

 

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2095

Many of the world's languages are no longer in use

The accelerating pace of globalisation has seen the number of human languages decline from around 7,000 in the late 20th century, to less than a quarter of this now.*

Many old sayings, customs and traditions are being abandoned or forgotten, as the world becomes an ever smaller and more interconnected place. Changing social and economic conditions have forced many parents to teach their children the lingua franca, rather than obscure local dialects, in order to give them a better future. This is especially true in Africa and Asia.

This broad homogenisation of culture has been further propagated by the stunning advances in technology which have swept the world. Many people in developed countries, for instance, are abandoning their native tongues altogether, instead relying on mind control interfaces for their everyday communications. The young especially are utilising this form of digital telepathy. Most teenagers in the 2090s spend almost their whole time interacting via electronic devices, rather than verbally speaking. The latter can be almost an inconvenience in some situations due to the longer time intervals in conversations.

Meanwhile, many tribes people and isolated communities have lost their homelands due to war, climate change, deforestation and changing land uses. This forced migration and assimilation into the wider world has led to many ancient and rural languages dying out.

English, Mandarin and Spanish remain the lingua franca of international business, science, technology and aviation.*

 

© Franz Pfluegl | Dreamstime.com

 

 

Manned exploration of the Saturnian system

The success of the Jupiter missions showed that long range, manned exploration of the solar system was possible. Several further missions are now being planned, including the first trip to Saturn - once again using craft powered by nuclear pulse propulsion. These are capable of travelling billions of miles in a matter of weeks, rather than years.

In addition to orbiting the planet itself, the astronauts conduct close-range observation of its moons and rings. Robots are dispatched to the surface of Titan, with samples being taken of its atmosphere and oceans.

 

 

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2099

Sea levels are wreaking havoc around the world

Despite efforts by the global community to halt climate change, it came too late to save many lowland areas of the world. Sea levels rose nearly two metres by the end of the 21st century, displacing hundreds of millions of people.* The Maldives were especially hard hit, with most of the nation disappearing underwater completely.*

Nations around the globe were forced to begin large-scale evacuation and resettlement programmes, while trillions of dollars were spent on coastal defences. In some cases, whole artificial islands were constructed.

 

 

 

83% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed

Due to the combined impacts of logging, drought, forest fires, desertification, agriculture and industrial expansion, less than one-fifth of the Amazon now remains.*

In addition to mass extinctions of flora and fauna, indigenous peoples' communities are now rapidly vanishing.

Positive feedback loops - caused by elevated atmospheric CO2 - mean there is now essentially no hope of saving the rainforest. A "tipping point" has been passed, setting the stage for its irreversible decline.*

 

A portion of the Amazon rainforest, 2000-2009. Flash animation by Will Fox, using imagery from NASA.

 

 

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