In case everybody hasn’t noticed we can all literally see the climate changing. You don’t have to be a psychic, or even a scientist to notice whats going on. Each year the weather is becoming more extreme. It seems now whenever it snows, it’s not just a flurry, but a snow storm. High and low temperature records are being broken. It’s been over 300 months of above average temperatures since humans first starting keeping records of the weather about a hundred years ago. Storms of all kinds are increasing in quantity and intensity. Glaciers are moving and melting at never before seen speeds. Island nations have already begun sinking and it’s only going to get worse. Last summer the North Pole became a lake. A lake!

There’s also acid rain, water and air pollution too. The entire Pacific Ocean is being irradiated by the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant, and the world’s largest cities are becoming so toxic that the air is becoming unbreathable. People actually need to wear masks, or stay inside. Biodiversity is declining at a record pace and given the speed at which temperatures are changing most animals will not be able to adapt fast enough meaning they are on the road to extinction. We’re wiping out entire species without even trying. California is in the midst of one of, if not the worst, droughts in the states’ history and as a result crops are failing.

Now imagine this trend continues, which all evidence suggests it will. More crops, in more places will begin to fail and fail more often either through drought, or unseasonably cold temperatures. Ever hear of the Great Dustbowl? This means food will become more expensive, and as we’ve already seen fuel prices to keep homes warm have already gone up. There’s even a shortage of the fuel needed even if people could afford. Half the country is, for all intents and purposes, living in poverty and many are being forced to choose between rent, food, or heat this winter. So as this trend continues more people will die. Families will freeze to death in their homes, and if the power goes out they’ll freeze even faster even if they could afford their rent and heating costs.

What’s gonna happen when the shit all hits the fan at once? It’s a matter of when, not if, crops around the country, if not the world begin to fail. Without crops, there wont be enough to feed the cows, chickens, and pigs we like to eat so much. The prices will skyrocket and the people who are barely getting by now will not be getting by at all. There will be riots over food and even water. Right now we’re using water for fracking  and the extraction of fuels from the Earth which will only speed up climate change and deplete already limited water sources further.

When those riots do come, we will then truly know class warfare. Tell me that desperate, starving, freezing masses wont raid and pillage the largest homes near them for anything of value. Whether they take material goods to sell at a pawn shop, or food to stay alive, or most likely both, home invasions will become routine. What wouldn’t you do to keep yourself and your family alive? As crazy as people like to think doomsday preppers are the threat and reality of the situation are all too real. We as nation and as a species are headed down a dangerous road- the end of which is barren and desolate, full of depravity and “The Walking Dead” will become closer to a documentary but with zombies. Then again, there is the very real possibility of a new plague arising in the midst of all of this. We already have drug resistant bacteria. Animals are pumped full of antibiotics which only increases the chances of a new superbug being able to survive such medicines. And from the perspective of a germ wanting to reproduce and infect as many hosts as possible, what better place to start than in the food supply?

At best we’re engineering a massive catastrophe which may effect the entire world. At worst we’re engineering our own extinction event. At first it was by accident, but now it’s greed and ignorance, and unless we start changing, using cleaner fuels, using renewable energies like wind and solar, practicing sustainable farming and food creation, a lot of people are going to die. I don’t know when, or how fast, but it certainly seems more likely than not.

I really hope I’m wrong.

~David T. Kukulkan~