100 years, ten decades (Jahrzehnte), 1200 months, 36500 days, 876000 hours, a whole century has passed …
Close your eyes and image yourself in our world 100 years later …
You are standing in the middle of a city.
Look right, left, up and down …
What do you see?
A crumbling (zerfallene), gloomy (düstere) world or a peaceful, colorful world …
With the help of interviews, surveys as well as with the help of society, we wanted to obtain (erhalten) a more accurate (präzise) image of what the world would look like in 100 years.
We focused on these 3 questions:
- How will our food develop?
- How will the climate change?
- What will the vegetation look like?
The world in 100 years
Before we started, we asked society how they see the world in 100 years. The first answer we received was “wow that’s a long time away, I wouldn’t even be alive anymore!” We asked them to use their imagination and imagine our world 100 years later. The perceptions (Empfindung) of the people we interviewed were all very similar. They all imagined a world which would continue to evolve and automate. Many workstations would be replaced by robots. There would also be new and faster means of transportation – Maybe even flying cars. Our climate would continue to increase in temperature. The world population would increase by several billion and therefore our field and forests would disappear and become cities. On the contrary maybe our houses would be covered with a green wall. What is a green wall? A green wall is a wall covered with greenery (plants, flowers etc.).
The most common answer we received was that the fate (Schicksal) of our world is in our hands.
The food in 100 years
Interview with a food scientist
We conducted an interview with Mrs. Michel who studied food science at the ETH in Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) and is now doing a PhD (doctorate) at the Institute for Environmental Decisions and Consumer Behavior.
1. Close your eyes and describe what the world would look like in 100 years according to your personal imagination and research knowledge
Most buildings will be renovated to store heat in winter and keep out the heat in summer. Our bodies would be equipped with Via sensors, which would inform us if something is missing or unusual happens. Personalized nutritional recommendations will enable us to provide our body with exactly the substances it needs at any given time.
2. How will the food develop?
In the future, nutrition (Ernährung) will be more personalized. Everyone will know exactly how many carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins and other nutrients their body needs. These substances, which our body needs, will be specially customized into drinks and meals. In order to reduce climate change, the majority of the people would take on a vegetarian diet.
3. Do you think the insects will play an important role in human nutrition?
The insects will not prevail (durchsetzen) as food in our culture. But it can be for the production of dog and cat food. So that no other animals would have to be slaughtered (Schlachtung) for this feed.
4. How will artificial (künstlich) food develop and will people continue to eat more of this kind of food in the future?
As a food scientist, I find it difficult to answer this question because the term “artificial food” is very difficult to grasp. For example, it would be possible to buy meat from a laboratory. Provided that the laboratory meat is cheaper, tasted just as good and if not possible, would be healthier than conventional meat. With the current ecological efforts, it could be that more and more people will start growing and cooking their own food again. This way, awareness would increase of food and its ingredients.
For the whole interview (in German) please click Essen in 100 Jahren (PDF)
The opinion of society
Many people say that in about 100 years we will consume less to no meat at all. But in order to keep our proteins, we would have to switch to other possibilities of food. For example, worms and maybe insects in general.
An interesting answer which we received was that drinking water could run out from time to time. That would be a big problem for us humans because we need water to exist. We must use our resources carefully and economically. Another exciting answer we received was that in 100 years our food would no longer be packaged in plastic but in reusable, recyclable and perhaps even eatable packaging, all of which are environmentally friendly. With these interesting answers, we are curious on how our food will change in the future.
The climate in 100 years
Interview with a climate scientist
We conducted an interview with Professor Dr. Grosjean. He is a professor at the University of Bern and director of the climate research center in Bern.
1. Close your eyes and describe what the world would look like in 100 years according to your personal imagination and research knowledge
In 100 years, the world’s population will probably be around 10 – 12 billion people, the rainforests will be largely cleared and the world would not be or look peaceful. We would have a shortage of resources such as water, food and habitation which would lead to conflicts and wars. Unless every person on Earth changes something…
2. How would the climate develop?
The climate has always changed but the fluctuations have remained within a relatively narrow range over the last 10 000 years. Since about 1970, the global climate left the range of natural fluctuations, becoming warmer and more extreme. This would continue.
3. What is your opinion on climate change?
Global warming is one of thegreatest threats. I myself would not experience these changes as much as my children and grandchildren would. Itis high time that young peopletake to the streets and protest loudly.
4. What Impact will climate change have on the world in 100 years?
In all countries it will be around 6-8 degrees warmer. Hamburg will have a climate like that of southern Italy today, in areas with water shortages it will be even drier. The Arctic will have thawed and the glaciers in the Alps will have largely disappeared. Many cities located on the coast would be submerged under the ocean.
5. What could be done about?
We should reduce and even avoid everything that produces greenhouse gases and promote renewable energy. For example:
Instead of driving a car – use public transport or a bicycle.
Flying only for professional reasons – holiday flights one time every 10 years and cancel weekend flights.
(More ideas in the pdf document below)
6. What else would you like to say on this subject?
Get involved and fight for a future worth living for, your future. Talk to the people around you. There is no reason why today’s adult generation should be allowed to take a leave and let today’s young generation fight alone.
For the whole interview (in German) please click Klima in 100 Jahren (PDF)
The opinion of society
The climate will certainly change. The summers would become hotter and the winters warmer. As the temperature rises, glaciers will melt even fasten which leads to a rise in sea level. Some even expect water resources to be scarce. Some animal species will become extinct due to the climate change. some even believe that different animal species would change habitats due to the new and different climate.
The plants in 100 years
Interview with a biologist
We conducted an interview with Dr. E. Waiblinger. She is a zoologist, science journalist, author of horror and science fiction books and a mathematics teacher at the WKVW & BMZ.
1. Close your eyes and describe what the world would look like in 100 years according to your personal imagination and research knowledge
The earth would become warmer, the average temperature will increase. There will be several new weather patterns and the sea levels would rise. Eventually humans would die out. If the insect population continues to decline, all birds that depend on insect for food will become extinct. If humans survive, there will be a population collapse (food shortage, wars etc).
2. How will the plants change/develop?
Due to the extinction of pollinator insects, many flowering plants will die out. Short-lived plants will survive and long-lived plants, like trees, would disappear.
3. Compared to the last few years, are there more forest fires, plants that disappear and other things?
Yes, droughts and forest fires are increasing.
4. What effects can be expected?
A food supply crisis and an increased risk of resource wars.
5. What is the cause and what could be done about it?
Climate warming is caused by an increase in greenhouse gases inour atmosphere. Plants, animals and even humans are effected by it. What can be done? To fight climate change we should stop using plastic and start using environment friendly resources.
For the whole interview (in German) please click Pflanzen in 100 Jahren (PDF)
The opinion of society
The society think there would be new plant species as well as newly extinct plant species due to climate change. The hot climate would also lead to more forest fires in which entire forests would be destroyed.
The respondents had the most difficulties in answering this question.
Conclusion
In conclusion, how our world would look like in 100 years is an extensive and very interesting topic. With the help of the experts and the surveys we conducted on today’s society we could find out a lot of new information about the climate, food and plants and we got an idea about how it could develop in the next 100 years.
To summarize, you can say that we were surprised, that most people imagine the world in 100 years more negatively than the world now. Why should everything on our world become worse? If we change things now and fight together for a good future, we can also imagine a beautiful, colorful and peaceful world in 100 years. You can help, too!
Project Team
Emanuela D’Andrea, Wirtschaftsschule KV Wetzikon
Vanessa Nauer, Wirtschaftsschule KV Wetzikon
Sources
The texts were written by us based on the interviews. Some photos are taken by us, the ones we didn’t take by ourselves we made the copyright test.
On-topic posts on dontwastemy.energy
Green walls for a green City!
The effects of bees and pollinating insects
How can plants survive in the climate change?
Sustainable Packaging
☷ See the project teams here »
☵ Some words about the contributions »
