The World in 2030

The World in 2030 103
over the last fifteen years. Not all the extra water comes from
the melting of the ice caps, 194 although this has surely been
occurring. There is also run off from thousands of landlocked
glaciers 195 and, of course, water itself expands 196 when
it is heated.
Responsible scientists suggest that all three causes
have contributed to the sudden rise in global ocean levels
but, whatever the reason, the effect was clear to see. I
incorporated my research into a novel that was published in
2005 in which the main action takes place in the year 2055.
In my fictional story climate change has run out of control
and humankind is attempting to use advanced technology
to bring the climate back under control. The book is called
‘Extinction’ 197 (the clue to the outcome is in the title).
Some highly qualified and distinguished scientists who
approach the issue of climate change from a far more rigorous
scientific standpoint than me, draw a similar conclusion as to
the possible outcome. Only what they are describing is nonfiction
and may become all too real. This is what Professor
James Lovelock wrote in The Independent in May 2004:
Unless we stop now, we will really doom the lives
of our descendants. If we just go on for another 40
or 50 years faffing around, they’ll have no chance at
all, it’ll be back to the Stone Age. There’ll be people
around still. But civilisation will go. 198
James Lovelock is, of course, the scientist who invented the
means of measuring chlorofluorocarbons 199 (CFCs) in the
atmosphere. These molecules were widely used in aerosols