If you thought that haunted IKEA was scary, just wait — this little tidbit is about to scare the pants off you (although possibly for different reasons). This video from the World Meteorologist Organization imagines what our weather reports in the future will look like… and it’s absolutely terrifying. Seriously, you guys. Scariest thing you’ll see all day. I guarantee it.
As part of the lead-up to the UN Climate Summit taking place in New York on September 23, the WMO is releasing a series of videos showing what the world’s climate will look like 36 years in the future. Like the Climate Summit, the Weather Channel report seen in the video below takes place on September 23 — just not September 23, 2014. Instead, we’re looking at September 23, 2050. I’ll be 65 then, and if anything can reinforce my desire to cut emissions, it’s this.
In the world the video imagines, hurricanes that remain 400 miles offshore still have enough force to put Miami underwater. It’s in the upper 90s in Chicago, in the evening, even at the end of September. A “megadrought” has been going on the southwest for 50 years, causing towns to go literally dry. The Summer Olympics are scheduled to take place in Alaska. And the Arctic Circle is a major vacation destination. Uh… yikes. Here, take a look:
True, it’s kind of a shock tactic — but that doesn’t mean that it’s totally without merit. As Andrew Freedman at Mashable notes, “While the portrayal of Miami might seem far-fetched, it’s not far off from what studies show.” Research by Climate Central — the folks who brought us that interactive showing how summers in the future will compare with them now — shows that a 3.4 foot rise in sea level is likely in Miami by 2100; this means that there’s a “17 percent cumulative risk of at least one floor exceeding three feet by 2030, a nearly 50 percent risk by 2050, and a 100 percent risk by the end of the century.” If we keep going at the rate we’re currently at, we’re going to be in bad shape.
The U.N. Climate Summit will focus on taking action and creating solutions to reduce emissions and strengthen resilience. To find out more, visit the Climate Summit’s official website.
Image: wmovideomaster/YouTube
