Time: The year 2157

Place: Southern California

“Wake up Liz, we’re almost here,” said dad.

Liz opened her eyes and stared out the car window with a frown on her face. They had driven about two hours that morning and had finally arrived at the museum.

“I can’t believe we had to drive all the way out here to see some old stuff,” Liz stated.

“It’s not just old stuff. It’s a part of our country’s history.”

“Old stuff about how they used to live in the early 21st Century is our history? I could’ve just Googled it,” she complained. “My AP Environmental Science teacher is out of her mind for assigning us a project on something from the past called global warming or climate change or whatever it was called. 

“What do you mean she’s out of her mind?” he inquired.

“Global warming was fixed a long time ago after those irresponsible people from the 20th and 21st Century almost wrecked our precious planet,” she replied.

“And that’s why it’s a part of our history. There’s the famous phrase, those who do not know history, are destined to repeat it,” her dad told her.

Liz rolled her eyes and slumped down into her seat. 

Their autonomous vehicle (AV) dropped them off at the entrance of the museum and then drove off to park itself. After having their irises scanned for admission at the entrance gate, Liz and her father made their way to the start of the tour. Putting on the Apple Vision Pro headset that the museum provides for sound and visuals, they began at the Industrial Revolution exhibit.

As Liz walked amongst the exhibits of the first industrial factories made in England, the audio in her headset began:

“While many consider the Industrial Revolution to be a momentous event that transformed economies and society, it was also the beginning of industrial pollution and the depletion of natural resources. The Industrial Revolution was powered by burning coal and industrial cities began to pump immense amounts of carbon emissions into the atmosphere.”

“Does that mean there was no air pollution before the start of the Industrial Revolution? she asked her dad. 

“Well, that was the start of man-made air and water pollution, but there was still natural air pollution from livestock carbon emissions,” he answered. 

“Ah, cow farts,” she said with a big smile on her face.

They walked along the tour but Liz got a growing sense of ennui as the audio droned on about the proliferation of factories, the advent of cars powered by combustible engines, and the effects of nuclear weapons testing on the environment in the 20th Century. Her AP Environmental Science teacher had specifically assigned her the time period from the year 2015 to the year 2025 so Liz was in a rush to get to the point.

“Dad, let’s move on to where the 2015 period starts. I think it’s on the second floor,” Liz told her dad. 

“Yeah okay, let’s head up there,” he agreed.

Upon reaching the 2nd floor, Liz walked around and examined the various exhibits and images of the environment and atmosphere from that 10 year period. 

“Wow dad, check this out. It says here that by the year 2020, sea levels had risen about 8 to 9 inches in about a century. An inch of sea level rise covers somewhere between 50 to 100 inches of coastline. If that would have continued unabated, our house would probably have been underwater by now,” Liz informed him. 

“Yeah I read that having a house near the beach was starting to get dangerous back then and some islands such as the Maldives and the Marshall Islands were just a few decades from disappearing,” her dad added. 

“Why were people so careless about the environment back then? Look at this picture of this cute polar bear on that small piece of floating ice,” Liz said.

“People back in the early 21st Century knew they were on the wrong course and the environment was almost at its tipping point but the issue is not black and white, there are also gray areas,” her dad explained. 

“What kind of gray areas?” Liz questioned.

“Well, the environment was a political issue back then. One side wanted less environmental regulation as they claimed it would be a hindrance to economic growth while the other side advocated for strong regulation no matter the burden on industries. I believe it was called blue and red states back then based upon the political view of the state’s citizens,” he informed her.

“That sounds like nonsense. Picking profit over a possible existential threat seems ignorant and self-serving,” Liz concluded. 

“Hey, things were just different back then. Would you believe that the biggest advocates for the environment were Hollywood stars? They would make these impassioned speeches at award ceremonies which was totally hypocritical as they flew around on private jets and vacationed on gas-guzzling yachts,” he added. 

“What’s that,” Liz asked while pointing to a large glass case.

“I think that’s an air purifier. In some countries with bad pollution, they kept air purifiers in their homes to keep the air clean,” dad replied.

“It looks like a trash can or R2-D2 from Star Wars haha,” she laughed. “Hey, is that a dental mask?”

“Something like that. People wore those when they were outside and the air pollution levels were especially dire. Then when a global pandemic hit around 2020, the masks became ubiquitous and people just continued to wear them as the air got worse and worse,” her dad remarked. 

“It looks so stuffy. I can’t imagine wearing a mask all the time. I guess if there’s some virus going around I could, but to not be able to breathe in fresh air would be a nightmare,” she said. “Oh also, my teacher said there used to be natural resources and fossil fuels called coal and oil that were used to power everything,” Liz said.

“The world was addicted to oil and some of the largest and most profitable companies in the world were in the oil industry. Besides the tremendous amount of carbon emissions that were released into the atmosphere by the use of oil, there were also many environmental disasters from oil spills that killed marine life and polluted the oceans,” he told her. 

“Countries didn’t try to fix the problems? If the Hollywood actors were advocating for change, the scientific community and countries must’ve been aware of the consequences of wrecking the environment,” Liz remarked.

“The international community made treaties like the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Climate Accords, but the underlying issue was that big polluters like our country and China just couldn’t reduce emissions enough as our economies depended on fossil fuels to power industries. The addiction to fossil fuels couldn’t be overcome,” he said sadly. 

“How bad did the environment get? she asked.

“A few decades after the period we are looking at right now, things deteriorated as global temperatures rose, droughts started turning farms into dusty wastelands, sea levels rose as glaciers melted, hurricanes and cyclones raged across the globe, and food and water security insecurity increased,” he answered. 

“Sounds like a nightmare. How was it finally overcome?” Liz inquired. 

“Finally when the global economy couldn't function properly was when drastic measures were undertaken such as an exorbitant carbon tax, a ban on combustible engines and coal factories, anti-deforestation policies, and a complete switch to renewable energy sources. While the beginning was tough to adjust to this sudden change, the outcome was successful as you can see from our clean environment today. The people back then made the sacrifices to bring this plant back from the brink. That's why former President of the EU Commission Greta Thunberg won the Nobel Peace Prize for her leadership at that time,” he told her. 

“Greta Thunberg? Isn't there a street near City Hall called Greta Thunberg Avenue?” Liz questioned. 

“That's exactly right. She was an environmental activist since she was a teenager and faced a lot of criticism for her early actions, even from a former US president. However, she helped save our planet. That's why there are streets and schools named after her,” dad informed her. 

“I think I learned more about the environment at that time from you than from this museum,” Liz said. 

“Yeah well, I think I've talked too much. Let's get back on the tour and listen more to the audio to learn more about what happened back then,” dad suggested. 

“Sounds like a plan. This old stuff is actually pretty interesting,” Liz said as she turned up the volume on her headset and walked through the rest of the exhibit.