By mid-century, we'll likely have self-driving cars, more widespread internet access, and semi-smart robots.
But despite our technological advances, humanity has failed to solve many of its problems. The world hasn't weaned itself off fossil fuels or antibiotics, protected the rain forest, or reduced the stigma surrounding mental illness. We haven't flood-proofed our cities or protected our energy grids from natural disasters.
With 2050 just a few decades away, major issues await the world. Science and technology need to start focusing on solutions to make the future better than the terrifying reality approaching.
The number of people living in cities will likely triple.
In 1950, just under 750 million people lived in urban areas. Today, that figure has ballooned to more than 4 billion — more than half the world’s entire population — and the upward trend is set to continue. By mid-century, about 6.3 billion people will live in cities.
Aside from overcrowding, the skyrocketing population will likely spur the faster spread of infectious diseases and viruses, from tuberculosis to the flu. Dwindling water supplies and inadequate sanitation will only compound the negative health affects.
Compared to rural areas, cities consume about three-quarters of the world’s energy and produce the same amount of global carbon emissions. Therefore, a rise in the urban population will also put pressure on energy demands and generate more pollution, potentially making the air toxic to breathe, similar to the situation in Beijing unfolding over the last decade.
According to the World Health Organization, outdoor air pollution is estimated to have caused 3.7 million premature deaths worldwide in 2012. This will only increase as urban populations rise and pollution worsens.
The air could be thick with pollution, worsening lung conditions and respiratory diseases.
By 2050, the number of deaths caused by air pollution — which includes tiny particles found in smoke and haze, ground-level ozone typically emitted by cars, and toxic components in household products and building materials — will soar, killing more than 6 million people every year, according to a recent report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Why? Because in addition to dirtier skies, warmer weather will speed up the chemical reactions that produce many pollutants.
One of those toxins is ground-level ozone, a chemical that irritates the delicate tissue lining the lungs and causes coughing, feelings of burning, wheezing, and shortness of breath when inhaled. Ozone often worsens respiratory conditions like asthma and emphysema.
In India, where the problem is especially bad, the OECD estimates that about 130 out of every 1 million people will die prematurely from exposure to ozone.
More than half of the world's population may not have adequate access to water.
Today, 1.1 billion people lack access to water. And 2.5 billion people (36% of the world's population) live in regions of the world experiencing water stress. Twenty percent of the world's GDP is produced in these areas as well.
Already, water scarcity hounds 2.7 billion people — nearly 40% of the world's population — for at least one month every year, either because they don't have access to clean water or because they can't afford it, Water Footprint Network says. And 1 billion people, about one-sixth of the world's population, face daily shortages, according to the foundation.
By 2050, however, this number will likely increase. Nearly 2 billion people will live in countries, mostly in the Middle East and North Africa, with absolute water scarcity, according to the International Water Management Institute. And by 2050, MIT researchers say that 5 billion of the world's projected 9.7 billion people could live in water-stressed areas.
Aside from a lack of drinking water, populations in these areas might not have the means to irrigate their fields (threatening food supply) or for other domestic, industrial, and environmental purposes.
Currently, one-third of the world's rivers — groundwater for about 3 billion people — are going or gone, according to the World Preservation Foundation. With population growth and global warming, the situation will only worsen. The drying of lakes and rivers releases greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide and methane, into the air, potentially exacerbating climate change.
Because of the water cycle, the world will also face more droughts, potentially making wildfires at least twice as destructive by 2050.
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