• Question: Whats going to happen to Global warming in the next 50 years

    Asked by Stephen Hawking to Megan, Mzamo, Ola, Olivia, Weiyi on 7 Nov 2016. This question was also asked by larry.
    • Photo: Mzamo Shozi

      Mzamo Shozi answered on 7 Nov 2016:

      It is difficult to tell, but as technology is advancing all the time, I hope they will eventually invent something to decrease it

    • Photo: Ola Michalec

      Ola Michalec answered on 7 Nov 2016:

      Hello,

      it really depends on the pathway we are heading towards..
      On one side, we (=nearly all countries in the world) signed Paris Agreement, which came to live last Friday. It is a big, legal, serious commitment to a radical change. If we stick to it, there is a chance that the warming will stay within 2 degrees which scientists call “safe for existence”, it means that there might be more extreme weather events but we could handle it without serious conflicts, big losses to environment etc.

      The more pessimistic vision is that if we continue as usual (e.g. consume to much “stuff” and dig for fossil fuels with the pace we are at now) we will put all of our resources at risk – biodiversity, food,water, minerals… This might lead to big scale famines, pollution-related health problems, economic crises or even global conflicts.

      It is really hard to say at this stage, but the actions in the 10 years will define our future to a great extent! I don’t mean to come across as scary but the key message from that is that the next few years of actions will be crucial

    • Photo: Megan Seymour

      Megan Seymour answered on 7 Nov 2016:

      The world is changing faster today that it has done at any point in history, so in 50 years time a lot is going to change.
      Sea levels will rise as the climate gets warmer and the ice caps continue to melt, weather events will become more extreme, and animals that are already endangered might not be able to survive.
      It is going to be up to the next generation of scientists (that means maybe you!) to try to minimize the damage and make sure things change for the better.

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