A Wonderful Scenario after the Environmental Catastrophe

The Earth will regenerate in the next couple of centuries thanks to three catastrophic events. Those events will allow overcoming this brief phase of the Anthropocene. There will also be room in the new era for the human species, which will undergo some mutations and shrink in numbers but shine brighter. Let’s hope so because anything can be expected from mutations.

The first catastrophic event will be a nuclear war. A few tens of millions of people will die immediately. These deaths will appear unimportant to most people not directly affected. Then, more atomic bombs will be launched, and nuclear plants are going to explode all over the world. So that, in the years immediately following, hundreds of millions will die from cancers and mysterious diseases. They will affect everyone indiscriminately, the rich and the poor, equally, including those who had found temporary shelter in the bomb bunkers. In addition, radiation-related infertility and widespread social depression will grow. Finally, a significant portion of those who will be born will be affected by genetic mutations due to radiation.

The second event that will disrupt the Earth will be the spread of pandemics caused by deadly viruses. Disorganization that follows conflicts will not allow them to be dealt with. The contagions and diseases will cause hundreds of millions more deaths, reducing the world population to less than five hundred million inhabitants, many of them isolated in small communities to defend themselves against diseases and violence.

The third event will be social and political: governments and institutions can no longer guarantee order. Large organizations will collapse, causing a shortage of food production. Famine will claim millions more victims and will force the human species to congregate in smaller and smaller tribes and communities affected by high mortality, infertility, and insecurity.

Other animal species and vegetation will take over areas once inhabited only by humans. Radiation will also cause rapid mutations in them. We are still determining whether they will become more intelligent or aggressive, and we cannot foresee how plants transmute.

Once the dominant ruler over nature, humans will step down and rejoin the natural world. Over centuries, they will slowly rebuild a new civilization, reclaiming the wonders of the one they had so foolishly destroyed due to their excessive pride and greed.

Thanks to those lovely nuclear explosions, humanity will undergo a delightful transformation, both genetically and culturally. Perhaps the wise “homo sapiens” and the brilliant “mulier sapiens” will shrink in stature and grow three eyes, twelve fingers, four arms, and a lovely trunk-like appendage. They might even possess the incredible ability to communicate telepathically and reproduce like marsupials.

This new breed of humans certainly will possess genes resistant to radiation. Thankfully, there’s a good chance that this new human species will surpass the current intelligence. It’s quite a challenge to be more foolish than those now busy preparing for self-destruction.