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2070-2079 timeline contents

2070 - Global average temperatures have risen by 4°C | Fusion power is widespread | Fully automated homes | Expansion of Moon bases

2072 - Picotechnology is becoming practical

2074 - The Green Wall of China is completed

2075 - The ozone layer has fully recovered | The Thames Barrier is upgraded

2076 - Unmanned probes to Sedna

2079 - Practical flying cars are entering the consumer market | Total solar eclipse in New York

2000-2009 | 2010-2019 | 2020-2029 | 2030-2039 | 2040-2049 | 2050-2059 | 2060-2069 | 2070-2079 | 2080-2089 | 2090-2099 >

2070

Global average temperatures have risen by 4°C*

Vast stores of methane, released from melting permafrost, have triggered an abrupt change in the Earth's climate.* The atmosphere has now shifted to pre-glacial/interglacial conditions which last prevailed over 34m years ago.* CO2 levels have reached almost 700 parts per million: two and a half times pre-industrial levels.** This has resulted in a global average temperature increase of 4°C, with the Arctic seeing rises as high as 15°C.*

In many parts of the world, the limits for human adaptation are being exceeded.* Despite attempts to share food and resources between nations - and to accommodate the surge in refugee numbers - the sheer scale and speed of this disaster is presenting enormous challenges, even with the technological base of the 2070s.

The use of heavily modified GM crops, hydroponics, desalination and other techniques have allowed some regions to maintain a degree of stability. Nanofabricators are also being utilised in the more advanced societies.

For many others, however, it's becoming impossible to sustain any kind of agriculture at all, due to the water loss,* resource depletion and level of environmental destruction now being experienced.** The frequency and intensity of freak weather events has increased exponentially - with hurricanes, severe storms, extreme flooding and droughts becoming widespread. A number of countries near the equator have been simply abandoned, their people scattered. City-scale flooding disasters are now commonplace* as sea levels have risen a full metre,* sweeping away trillions of dollars' worth of real estate.

The number of displaced persons is overwhelming the ability of international organisations and governments to cope. Although many refugees are surviving and resettling in higher or lower latitudes, even greater numbers are unable to complete the journey, or are denied border entry. An alarming drop in the global population is being witnessed as millions perish due to hunger, conflict and adverse environmental conditions. Traditional free market capitalism is facing collapse, as civilisation struggles to adapt to this new and rapidly changing world. Resource-based economies are evolving to take its place.**

For too long, humans exploited their environment with little appreciation for the long-term consequences. Nature is finally beginning to redress the balance.

global warming timeline 2050 2070 2075 2100 future temperature scenario trend graph
© Ben Goode | Dreamstime.com

Fusion power is widespread

Most leading countries now have at least one fusion plant either operational, or in the process of construction. These reactors offer a clean, safe and abundant supply of energy. Alas, they have come too late to prevent runaway global warming.

Fully automated homes

Buildings in developed nations are becoming highly automated and self-sufficient. In addition to robots, a typical new build home now includes the following:

A localised power supply. Energy can be generated by the building itself, via a combination of photovoltaics and piezoelectric materials. Walls, roofs and windows can absorb almost all wavelengths of light from the Sun with organic solar technology, turning it into heat and electricity. Friction generated by the occupant's footsteps - and various other kinetic processes - can also produce energy. This is converted and stored in any number of ways, from hydrogen to batteries. In countries where sunlight is less frequent, microturbines may be used in place of solar.

On-site water production and waste management. Rain is captured by external guttering, then stored and converted into drinking water using nanofiltration systems. This is especially useful in regions prone to drought (which includes a substantial portion of the world by this time). If local water is in short supply, houses can serve as miniature reservoirs and filtration systems. Meanwhile, plastics and other kitchen waste can be placed in recycling machines, ground into extremely fine powder, then later re-used in nanofabricators.

A multi-layered building envelope which provides a variety of dynamic effects. Windows can self-adjust their size and position - as well as their opacity - to optimise the level of natural light. In some of the more upmarket properties, the entire façade can morph its texture and appearance through the use of claytronics. Depending on the tastes of the occupant, this could transform into an art deco style, a classic Victorian building, or something entirely different. This form of "programmable matter" can even be designed by the occupant themselves and changed on demand.

Air purification systems. Air within the home is kept fresh, purified and completely free of dust and microbes.

Interactive surfaces. Holographic generators cover the whole interior of the property – including walls, doors, worktop surfaces, mirrors and shower cubicles. These intelligent surfaces can track the position of the occupant and display information whenever and wherever necessary. A person can read emails, see news reports and access the online world using virtually any surface in the house as a touch screen or mind control interface.* Detailed, real-time information on their health, personal lifestyle and daily schedules can also be displayed. This system has a variety of other functions, e.g. it can be used to locate personal items which may have been misplaced.

Intelligent/self-maintaining appliances. Appliances that don't repair or maintain themselves in some way have become largely obsolete by now. It is very rare for a human engineer to be called to the house.

A modest size. The world is becoming an ever more crowded place, with available land continuing to shrink due to overpopulation and environmental decline. In city centres, apartments tend to be highly minimalist and compact, with small footprints utilising every inch of space. Full immersion virtual reality is one method of adapting to this. Another is flexible room layouts that reconfigure themselves on demand. In earlier decades, this was achieved in some homes by using a sliding wall system.* Today, it can be done with morphable claytronics.

future home 2020 2050 2100 house building technology automated
© Sellingpix | Dreamstime.com

Expansion of Moon bases

Building on the success of the Helium-3 extraction programmes, additional new bases are appearing on the Moon. Other resources are now being mined including precious metals and minerals which are increasingly rare on Earth.

Perhaps more importantly, this is being combined with on-site processing and production, to build new structures and facilities around the original bases. Solar panels, tools and other equipment, for example, can be manufactured without needing to be delivered from Earth, whilst entire new buildings can be created with the help of robots. Paths can be carved out from the lunar regolith, with solar roadways built on them using materials extracted locally.

Small hydroponic farms are providing a continuous supply of food and water to the astronauts.

All of this is producing the critical mass needed for a thriving, self-sustaining presence on the Moon. A few decades from now, it will be open for civilian settlement.

permanent lunar base
Credit: NASA

2072

Picotechnology is becoming practical

Technology on the scale of trillionths of a metre (10^-12) is becoming practical now.* This is orders of magnitude smaller than the nanotech of earlier decades.* The structure and properties of individual atoms can be altered via the manipulation of energy states within electrons, to produce metastable states with highly unusual properties, creating new forms of exotic atoms.

2074

The Green Wall of China is completed

A 73-year environmental project - to halt the advancing sands of the Gobi Desert - is finally completed this year.* Beijing and other cities along China's northeastern border are now protected from desertification by a 4,500 km barrier of newly planted trees.* This becomes the largest single ecological project of the century.

To build it, the government established a plan involving three approaches. Firstly, aerial seeding over vast swathes of land where the soil was less arid. Secondly, the paying of farmers to plant trees and shrubs in areas requiring greater attention. Thirdly, the construction of a huge fence along the perimeter.

Inside this gigantic new forest, sand-tolerant vegetation was arranged in optimised checkerboard patterns to create an artificial ecosystem that stabilised the dunes. A gravel platform held sand down and encouraged the formation of a soil crust. The government also funded research into genetically engineered plants, chemical dune stabilisation, grass strains bred in space, and even farming techniques that allowed rice to grow in sandy soil.

Prior to the Wall's erection, the Gobi had been advancing south at 3 km per year.

2075

The ozone layer has fully recovered

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were invented in the 1920s. They were used in air conditioning/cooling units, as aerosol spray propellants prior to the 1980s, and in the cleaning processes of electronic equipment. They also occured as by-products of some chemical processes.

No significant natural sources were ever identified for these compounds - their presence in the atmosphere was found to be almost entirely due to human activity. When such ozone-depleting chemicals reached the stratosphere, they dissociated by ultraviolet light to release chlorine atoms. The chlorine atoms acted as a catalyst, each one breaking down tens of thousands of ozone molecules before being removed from the stratosphere.

The ozone layer prevents most UV wavelengths of sunlight from passing through the Earth's atmosphere. In the late 20th century, huge decreases in ozone generated worldwide concern. It was suspected that a variety of biological consequences - such as increases in skin cancer, cataracts, damage to plants, and reduced plankton populations - resulted from the higher levels of UV exposure due to ozone depletion.

This led to the adoption of the Montreal Protocol - one of the single most successful international agreements of all time, which banned the production of CFCs, halons and related ozone-depleting chemicals. Although this ban came into force in 1989, the molecules had a longevity of several decades. In 2006, the ozone hole was the largest ever recorded, at 10.6 million square miles (pictured below). It was not until 2075 that it fully recovered.*

ozone layer hole 2075 cfcs future recovery restored map nasa image
Credit: NASA

The Thames Barrier is upgraded

London is just the latest of many cities to radically upgrade its flood defences, in the wake of devastating floods and sea level rises.*

The original barrier was raised a total of 62 times between 1983 and 2001. It was raised with increasing frequency as the decades went by. Towards the end of this century, its successor may have to be raised over 200 times every year to cope with the combined impact of stronger storms and sea level rise.*

2076

Unmanned probes to Sedna

Sedna is a trans-Neptunian "dwarf planet", similar in size and composition to Pluto.* Discovered in 2003, it became the most distant object yet observed in the solar system, and the largest solar body to be found in over 70 years.

Its orbit is highly elliptical - taking it from 76 AU to about 975 AU over the course of 12,000 years.

In 2076, it reaches perihelion (its closest point to the Sun) and a series of unmanned probes are sent to explore it.

sedna perihelion orbit 2076 solar system future aphelion
Credit: NASA

2079

Practical flying cars are entering the consumer market

Anti-gravity propulsion has been under development for almost a century now.* Initially seen in military applications, it eventually found its way to the consumer market. Here, it began showing up in various luxury items and devices, such as hoverboards and floating recliners.

Further refinement of this technology - together with advances in AI, microjets and collision avoidance systems - has led to the dawn of a new era in personal transportation. In the late 2070s, it is not uncommon to see what citizens of earlier decades might describe as "flying cars" moving through cities.

In fact, these are light-duty vehicles based on earlier military VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) craft, but with slimmed down functionality and costs. They come in a variety of models and sizes, but are typically around 4 metres wide, and limited to a maximum of one or two passengers. By the end of this decade, they are becoming cheap, safe and numerous enough to be regarded as a mainstream form of transport.

The craft have a number of advantages over established forms of mobility. Since they float above the ground, they can access terrain and environments that would easily defeat traditional automobiles. This makes them popular with adventurers and explorers. They are also substantially faster than normal cars, able to reach several hundred kilometres per hour if necessary. They are more versatile and manoeuvrable than aeroplanes and can utilise a much greater volume of airspace. Since the traffic they generate is decentralised and there is so much available airspace, this makes them safer than both cars and aeroplanes, too. Collisions are almost unheard of, in any case, due to the onboard software and AI.

In addition, they use considerably less fuel than earlier forms of transport and require less maintenance.

Some of the more expensive models are capable of reaching low Earth orbit for short periods. Others feature striking designs, often personalised by their owner - such as holographic decals and other accessories. These craft are being used by many businesses too (especially for rapid delivery of goods), as well as police and ambulance crews.

Further developments in anti-gravity will lead to bigger, more sophisticated versions - including recreational vehicles serving as truly mobile homes. Many previously inaccessible parts of Earth will become inhabited thanks to this, such as mountains and remote islands.

Total solar eclipse in New York

A rare total eclipse takes place in New York this year.*

> 2080-2089