Climate Crisis
| Date | Effects began to be felt in the early 2000s and have escalated since |
|---|---|
| Duration | Ongoing |
| Location | Earth |
| Type | Consequences of climate change |
| Cause | Global warming, ozone layer depletion |
| Outcome |
|
| Deaths | Billions from starvation and extreme weather (over 1-2 centuries) |
| Non-fatal injuries | Billions (as above) |
| Missing | Billions (as above) |
| Property damage |
|
| Displaced | Billions (over 1-2 centuries) |
The Climate Crisis is an ongoing crisis on Earth, caused by the effects of global warming on the planetary climate, as well as the depletion of the ozone layer. Its consequences, including droughts, extreme heatwaves, extreme storms, acid rain, and rising sea levels resulting in the flooding of coastal cities and towns, have been highly disruptive to society. During the 21st and 22nd centuries, world governments worked to find a solution to the crisis, attempting to delay it with greenhouse gas removal (GGR) and experimental weather control technology, but as its effects began to plateau around the 23rd and 24th centuries, humanity pivoted to adapting to its consequences rather than reversing or preventing it.
Consequences
Sea level
As a result of the melting of polar ice caps via positive feedback loops and the thermal expansion of oceans, sea levels have dramatically risen, flooding coastal areas and those adjacent to rivers. One such example is the city of London, the central boroughs of which were catastrophically waterlogged during the 2050s despite upgraded city flood defences. As a result, many have been forced out of their homes, with entire communities destroyed. Some cities, such as Miami and Jakarta, have been entirely flooded.
Some countries, to adapt to the rising sea levels, have become increasingly proficient at oceanic construction, allowing them to construct large buildings - including skyscrapers - in bodies of water, with enclosed passages for pedestrians and vehicles connecting them in a network. This style of construction is seen in many places around the world, including London. Entire cities built using this technology, known as oceanic cities, have also been developed, including Shore City located in North America, which is the world's largest oceanic city.
Extreme storms
The crisis brought unprecedented extreme storms with it, introducing catastrophic hurricanes, as well as flash thunderstorms that can disrupt RF communications, take down entire power grids, and knock planes out of the sky - to countries and regions that historically had no alike weather; the extreme nature of the thunderstorms caused by the dynamics of the ionosphere beginning to change drastically. Though governments have attempted to control the storms with experimental weather control technology including a reworked version of Weather Run, but as the storms progressed in intensity, these solutions began to get less and less effective.
Many countries have implemented mitigations against the consequences of extreme weather in major cities - known as “storm hardening”, it involves modifying buildings with armour (to defend against blown projectiles) and additional steel reinforcement, moving power grids underground and shielding them from energy bursts, and providing hardwired communications networks in addition to radio.
Heating
Existing countries with a primarily hot/arid climate, such as Australia, have seen increased ambient temperatures and experienced frequent lethal heatwaves, forcing building designs to change and implement active cooling systems. Oceanic and/or underwater cities have proven effective creative solutions in these exceptionally hot regions, utilising the cooler sea air or water as a form of climate control. Snowfall across existing cooler areas has drastically reduced.
Radiation
Damage to the ozone layer has resulted in a much higher proportion of ultraviolet (UV) radiation propagating through the atmosphere, rendering it dangerous to venture outside during clear weather. However, the advent of gene editing has made it possible to make oneself more resilient to UV radiation, and skin cancer treatments are more effective by multiple orders of magnitude, reflecting the adaptation of humanity to the circumstances.