Earth Viability: Safeguarding the Health of Earth's Life-Support System

Earth's Spectrum of Possible Future

It is helpful to have an understand of the spectrum of possible futures of Earth. Taking some responsibility for future generations, we extend our view of the future beyond the next few years most relevant to us and look at the rest of the century and beyond.

Lindsey Doermann compiled an overview of maps of the world by 2100: “The Anthropocene is nothing if not disorienting. Things that once seemed immutable—polar ice caps, songbird migration routes, even the onset of spring—are now on the move. So how do we think about our place in a geographically altered future? A map is a good place to start. We’re accustomed to looking at maps that depict the world as it is, but cartographers of the Anthropocene are beginning to illustrate what may be—in the near and distant future. As climate change scrambles geographies, they are asking: Which parts of the world will humans find habitable in 50 years? How will species’ ranges shift? How might we think about urbanization and globalization?” Below, we show a few examples.

Climate change is likely to impact the future of most place on earth significantly.

Population growth, if uninterupted by major disasters and atrocities, will impact many regions and shift mjor population centers to new locations.