Zosime Apollo

The Beginning

November 12, 2015- It was a crappy day by any standards- it was cold and raining, with wind of up to 60 mph. It was Thursday, but felt like it should be Friday. Living in an area whose weather is commonly described as bipolar, the wind and rain were more of an annoyance than anything else, and it was actually uncommonly warm for November. The day, miserable as it was in the short-term, was entirely ordinary in of itself. It wasn’t special.

But that was the day that sparked the thought that would eventually blossom into this, that would inspire me to share my thoughts, be as it may no one is listening.

I was sitting in AP World. We were supposed to be talking about 15th century China, but the conversation diverged from the subject matter as it often does, and we as a class got onto the subject of global warming.

Due to melting ice caps, ocean levels are rising. Everybody knows that. But what I didn’t know, or chose not to acknowledge, were the consequences of this. Islands are shrinking into nothing, and the state of Florida, whose absolute highest elevation is mere 345 feet above sea level won’t approve any new buildings not built at least ten feet above sea level. Why?

Because they won’t last- they’ll be enveloped by the shoreline in ten years, maybe less.

Eventually, it would get so bad that ocean waters would reach our fresh water sources, destroy food crops and buildings, and collapse the world’s economy.

Learning this, I reeled, especially when I heard the date this was all supposed to happen by: 2030.

So, so soon.

With that, my teacher grinned and said, “Enjoy the next 15 years, folks. You probably don’t have any longer!”

For the rest of the day, I couldn’t think about anything else. My mind went around and around, imagining possible scenarios in which this could happen, ways of adapting, and so forth. Discussing it with others in my class, I found they were having the same existential crisis as I. I debated with them heatedly all through the day.

By the time I’d gone to sleep that night, I’d gotten over the existential crisis bit. Hours of thinking yields a lot of results for me, and a lot to write down to get my thoughts straight.

That’s what this is. My thoughts, hypothesized plans, and new view on life after this eye-opener.

Don’t take anything I say as fact. It’s simply the hypotheses of someone trying to prepare as best they can. In fact, please argue with me (in an intelligent, calm manner, of course). Let me know how you see it, your thoughts, anything.

Here’s to the end of the world.