There's no single deadline to "save the world," but scientists emphasize urgent action on climate change, with UN officials stating the next two years are critical for strong new emissions plans to meet the 1.5°C warming goal, while others suggest the window for drastic cuts is closing rapidly, with some estimates suggesting the carbon budget for 1.5°C could be gone in just a few years at current emission rates, requiring immediate, ambitious cuts by 2030. The overall goal is to halve emissions by 2030 and reach net-zero by mid-century to avoid the worst impacts.
In a 2018 report by the IPCC, it was stated that 12 years are left to turn the fight against climate change around. Other sources quoted the much more stringent deadline of 18 months.
We Are in a Climate Emergency
Leading climate scientists tell us we now have 4 years to move civilization off fossil fuels to avert climate catastrophe. The science is clear. We must act in time.
By 2040, no matter what we do – aggressively reduce emissions or not – the amount of warming will be about 1.5 to 1.6°C. With this warming will come some changes in rain. It is predicted that southwest and eastern Australia will be drier, Tasmania probably about the same.
In its 2022 report, the IPCC estimated that humanity could only emit 500 billion more tonnes of CO2 from the start of 2020 onwards for a 50% chance of keeping warming to 1.5C. As a result, the remaining carbon budget would be exhausted “in a little more than three years if global CO2 emissions remain at 2024 levels.”
Dr Ian Pearson claims those who live till 2050 may escape death, as future science could replace damaged organs and possibly grant eternal youth. Dr. Ian Pearson suggests that advances in gene therapy, stem cells, nanomedicine, and cell reprogramming could enable eternal life by 2050.
Global temperature is projected to warm by about 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7° degrees Fahrenheit) by 2050 and 2-4 degrees Celsius (3.6-7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100.
Which jobs will disappear by 2040? The development of AI and robotics could lead to a decline in labor-intensive jobs by 2040, including machine assemblers, postal workers, and even agricultural laborers.
The projections in the report assume this with no upper limit, though at a slowing pace depending on circumstances in individual countries. By 2100, the report assumed life expectancy to be from 66 to 97 years, and by 2300 from 87 to 106 years, depending on the country.
Planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions are expected to rise to 75 billion tonnes a year by 2050 – a nearly 50 per cent jump from today. This will destabilize the climate and lead to a surge in heatwaves, which are expected to affect nearly everyone on Earth – some 9.2 billion people – by 2050.
It may be too late for gradual change, and it's certainly too late to prevent the world from continuing to heat up, as we're still pumping long-lived greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. But solutions are here. We just need to shift our priorities, hunker down and actualize them. We must all get involved.
Good news for those with plans for October and beyond: the Earth will still be in existence. Nasa has confirmed – after rumours swept the internet about an imminent asteroid strike expected between 15 and 28 September – that the two-week period in question will be entirely free of Earth-destroying space attacks.
It is now 89 seconds to midnight.
On September 11, 2025, Warp News estimated a 20% chance of global catastrophe and a 6% chance of human extinction by 2100. They also estimated a 100% chance of global catastrophe and a 30% chance of human extinction by 2500.
All of the top 10 warmest years have happened in the past two decades. With a mean temperature of 10.09C, 2025 now tops the list, with 2022 and 2023 the second and third warmest years since records began in 1884. It was only the second time since the 19th century that the mean temperature exceeded 10C.
The stories are irresistibly dramatic – life on Earth faces threats as varied as asteroid impacts, alien viruses, eruptions from the Sun and even the violent death of a massive star.
The direct death toll alone could amount to tens to hundreds of millions of people. Or maybe even billions. If, in an absolute worst case scenario, 99 percent of the world population would die, that would leave 80 million people alive. Meaning in terms of population we would be back to 2500 BC.
No, no one has ever lived to be 200 years old with verified records; the oldest verified person was Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122 years and 164 days, but some scientists believe the first person to reach 200 may have already been born, given advancements in longevity research. Claims of much older ages, like Li Ching-yun (claimed 250+ years) or Peng Zu (claimed 800+ years), lack modern scientific verification.
Top sales professionals in tech, luxury real estate, and medical equipment often earn more than $400,000 per year through performance-based commissions. These high-paying jobs typically have no degree requirement, though experience, communication skills, and industry knowledge are essential.
Which Jobs Are Safest from AI and Automation?
There's no single #1 happiest job universally, but Firefighters consistently rank high for job satisfaction due to their sense of purpose, while Care Workers, Counsellors, Content Creators, and IT roles (Java Devs, Systems Analysts) also appear frequently on "happiest" lists for fulfillment, autonomy, or good pay/balance. Overall, jobs with meaning, helping others, nature connection, strong coworker bonds, or good work-life balance tend to be cited as happiest.
The mobile-friendly MyClimate 2050 tool shows almost all areas across Australia will experience longer and hotter summers, with temperatures increasing by an average of 2.32°C.
OpenAI's Sam Altman claims AI will deliver an "Intelligence Age," but tech breakthroughs alone can't solve global warming.
Though the climate of Earth will be habitable in 2100, we will be experiencing new extremes. Each decade will be different from the previous and next decade. The climate future could be quite bleak.