Report from the future: Its now or never

Hello from 2075!

    I'm writing to you as an Environmental Historian with some urgent information because it seems your world was in a crisis, and mine is no better. I need to catch you up on the state of the world. We don't have coastlines and bustling cities anymore. Where Miami, New Orleans, and New York used to be, they're underwater. No, really. They've experienced so much sea level increase that the upper-structure floors of skyscrapers are now faux coral reefs reinforced with hopes of keeping them afloat.

    The humanitarian efforts and internal migrations are unprecedented—millions were displaced to go inland to avoid the coast; millions were displaced through urban interiors; millions were displaced from international coastlines. Countries could barely maintain their populations as refugees. The biodiversity is almost nonexistent. Children learn about coral reefs and polar bears and over 1,000 extinct species in virtual reality. The "Anthropocene Extinction" matched the slaughtering of the dinosaurs but quicker. Agricultural systems changed; growing zones were no longer a guarantee. For thirty years, seas were inhospitable due to climate change; food systems diminished annually until a fix could stabilize for thirty years. Now, we rely on vertical farming in skyscrapers with climate control and synthetic proteins.

    As of now, our biggest financial expense comes from climate change prevention. We're a part of a Global Carbon Capture Initiative that costs us nearly half of our GDP—yet we're making little progress, as systems are forever entrenched because of all the escalating feedback loops that happen on your watch. If only you had known about this issue while it was still manageable. Oh, wait, you did. You had the scientific, technological, and economic capacity to protect the majority of this world. There were scientific papers, PR campaigns, and evident causation, yet there was a failure to take adequate action.

    You are at a pivotal moment for our world. Whatever you will or will not do in the next decade will determine whether our present trauma will be your new reality or an option avoided.

With urgency,
Your friend from the future

Sources & Further reading: 

Biodiversity 
Sea Level
Displacement
Climate Change