Ice Cap Breaks Up - "As the planet warms. a gigantic portion of the Antarctic' ice cap, which is presently on land, cracks off and slides into the ocean causing sea levels to rise 100 feet in most of the world. Incredible crises result in almost every nation."
Energy Revolution - "A scientific breakthrough propels an energy revolution, rendering all of our traditional energy sources, including fossil fuels obsolete. Cold fusion and zero-point energy commercial generators that require no 'fuel' in order to produce heat and electricity - become a reality. Traditional fusion to create energy like the sun becomes viable, using hydrogen as the fuel".
Global Food Shortage - "Global demand and water and soil problems - exacerbated' by increasing weather in the United States and China - lead to significant shortages in food that cascade into a global crisis. Escalating food prices cause mass starvation in countries with low per capita income. Significant instability arises in poor pockets of the developed world as the availability of affordable food plummets."
Nanotechnology Takes Off - “Nanotechnology - the process of using molecular-sized machines to build usable human-scale products by stacking individual atoms into predetermined configurations- becomes practical. Traditional industrial methods of manufacturing become obsolete. Manufacturing dilemmas that once appeared unsolvable suddenly become trivial in the face of molecular-level solutions."
Africa Unravels - "The combination of increasing population growth,poverty, deadly epidemics, famine, environmental degradation, and political instability conspire to push much of equatorial Africa over the edge. Large-scale rebellions roll across the continent, and anarchy becomes the rule of the day. Large-scale migrations toward developed countries would be likely, causing upheaval and resentment in those destinations. Disease could become rampant, making strict quarantines necessary for immigrants. The potential sources for this instability already exist in various combinations throughout the continent. Pressures like population growth, the AIDS epidemic. and political upheaval are likely to increase before they abate. Africa seems to be getting worse, not better."
Bacteria Become Immune to Antibiotics - "Bacteria are inherently resilient; antibiotics work only until the bacteria develop new defenses; then new antibiotics must be found to fight them. If a major disease suddenly redeveloped immunity to the only antibiotics available to treat it then an AIDS-like epidemic could sweep the country."
Humans Directly Interface with the Net - "A subdermally implanted computer chip or some other transducing device allows instantaneous, two-way, thought-based access to the Web. Through specially designed contact lenses or glasses. a direct display of the retrieved information is superimposed on one's field of view. Vast global networks are accessible at any time for any location."
Technology Gets Out of Hand - "With the unprecedented acceleration of technological development, an experiment or invention produces a large-scale negative effect that jeopardizes human life or the environment. By the time the effects are actually detected, major, irreversible damage has been done."
