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JANUARY 1, 10005 by V. A. MENON
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Rated "G" by the Author.
(This is a science fantasy to remind all about how the future will be if we don't preserve nature.)
Rohit had a long day at college. It was 6 p.m. by the time he reached home. He had to complete a lot of assignments. Since he was the group leader in the class, he had to also collect assignment timetable for next day’s projects before closing his day. A long bus ride back home left him completely exhausted. Summer was quite hot and humid, even late evenings were warmer than usual. He just kept his backpack on the table and went to take a shower.
The cool shower was soothing, washing away all the sweat, he felt fresh and energetic. As he sat to have tea and snacks brought by his sister, he narrated that day’s busy schedule at college. Rohit later sat relaxed on his bed and his attention went to a book lying lazily on his study table. It was a book on global warming which he picked a few days back from his college library. He picked it up and started reading. The book explained a lot about the problems of deforestation, pollution and more with illustrations and information from around the globe. Exhaustion slowly caught up and he dozed off to sleep.
Rohit’s mind slowly conjured up a dream. He travelled forward in time. He looked at the wall and saw the calendar hanging there. It was on a metal disc. The calendar page showed December 31, 10004. That means tomorrow is the new year day, January 1, 10005. Rohit is all confused and hear the familiar voice of his dad calling him for dinner.
Rohit walks to the dining room. He notices that his house looks different with a lot of additional electronic machines. There is centralized air conditioning and oxygen supply. As he sits down to eat, he sees there are few capsules on his dinner plate. He gulps them down and suddenly feels his stomach is full. He looks around to drink some water and sees a transparent shiny capsule that melts as soon as he pops it in his mouth and realizes it tasted just like water. His Mom had just returned from work and she enters in a silver suit with a cylinder hanging behind her back, her head and face were covered with a glass helmet. She takes off the suit and enters in. Rohit is completely lost by now. Everyone around in his family seem to be very casual about all new changes. Rohit decides to switch on his laptop to search for news to help him understand the situation. “Am I really in 10005? How is that possible?” Rohit asks himself.
Rohit comes back to his room and finds the laptop is ready open with news almost as if it can read his mind. The laptop confirms that it is indeed 10004. Mother Earth has changed drastically. There are no trees no plants, no waterbodies left on the plant. If one has to go out, he has to wear the thermal suit and hang oxygen cylinder at the back and put oxygen helmet on his head. After entering inside the car he can take out all these as there is oxygen supply and air cooling inside the car. Car runs on solar power. Only vehicles are there on the road. Road is red hot and hot air is blowing outside. Infrared and ultraviolet rays are continuously coming from sun. If you get exposed to these, you will be dead. Vehicles run above the road like a hover craft in the sea.
Rohit is thinking what happened how did Earth change so much. The laptop immediately answers describing about the olden history of earth when it was full of plants and trees which absorbed sun rays. There was an ozone layer which blocked the harmful rays from falling on to earth forming a layer of protection for mankind. The trees used to absorb carbon dioxide and leave out oxygen into atmosphere. The temperature on earth was regulated. Water from seas, rivers and lakes used to get evaporated and form rain clouds and rain used to fall on earth. Our planet was very cool during that time and one could walk freely outside. A variety of animal and bird species inhabited on earth.
However, man’s behavior changed everything. He destroyed all the forests and hydroflurocarbon emitted from his factories destroyed the ozone layer protection from above the earth. As a result heat started increasing. Now it’s boiling water in the sea which is purified through reverse osmosis for drinking and made available in artificial capsules. Conflict and war between nations and deliberate of use of nuclear weapons wiped out the vast human population and animal kingdom from earth. Only about a million of survivors are struggling to be alive now. In the olden days there used to be vegetables and fruits and there was agriculture to grow food grains. But now earth is a hot planet. People swallow food capsule which supplements the required nutrients. Reading about all the bad deeds about his ancestors, Rohit got angry and violently put off the laptop.
As he turned on the side his hand hit on the window plane and window opened. A hot wind flowed in and Rohit was panicked, he started screaming, “where is oxygen? where is my mask?”, A cold splash of water awakened him from his sleep, and he saw his sister in front. She held a cup of water and Rohit realized she had sprinkled it on his face to wake him up. It was after all just a dream.
Rohit’s sister sounded irritated, “what happened to you? I have been trying to wake you since so long. Come, it’s time for dinner and mom dad are waiting for us. Rohit washed his face and came to the dining room. He was a bit skeptical at first but saw his plate had a hot serving of rice, curry and papad much to his relief. As all were having dinner, Rohit narrated the dream he saw about future human life.
“I think Rohit has gone mad after reading those library books”, his sister teased.
“This is not a simple dream. It could become a reality anytime from now. Deforestation has almost destroyed most of the plant life. Global warming is increasing. Climate change is a major issue today. The shifting weather that threatens food production, shifting wildlife to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic natural disasters like flooding, the global adverse impacts on climate change are unprecedented in scale. New drug resistant virus and bacteria are taking birth. Highly potent virus like corona is capable of wiping out human race. Friction between nations are growing and a nuclear war can take place any moment which can wipe out the entire life from earth. Then the earth will become a dead planet where no life, religion or God exists. It is high time that humans realize the vulnerability of our existence, our future will hold what we create today.” said Rohit's Dad.
“You are right Dad, the books which I have read, give such a warning to mankind”, said Rohit.
“What warning? Who listens? Present generation of people do not even think about the future of the children they create. No one bothers about future” said Rohit’s Dad.
Not so much a fantasy, but a reality if things do not change. But the stories of how we stopped the plague, DDT, smallpox, numerous practices like smoking that were dangerous to our health, the necessity of conquering space and colonialism/slavery for economic health, etc., make most scientists predicting that the future world will be filled with more wilderness and that population will be reduced naturally in huge cities that are completely self-sustaining.
But a major shift in thinking and attitudes need to be done. This generally comes from the younger generation, guided by leaders who see the possibility of change, from their research and study. Your story is a looking back through a book found in a library that no longer exists in 10,005. It is highly likely we will overcome that scenario, Venus/Earth sisterhood. We are smart enough and capable enough. We just have to have the resolve.
There are some errors in the writing, both English and scientifically, but it is a nice warning add to the many like that famous book, Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson.
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