Sea level rise
Dystopia: A one-metre rise in sea levels is within 30 years is almost a given. Throw in the disintegration of
the Greenland and Antarctic ice shelves, and all bets are off. Expect more cities flooded by hurricanes.
Utopia: Sea level rise is limited to 30 or 40 centimetres, and thanks to thoughtful urban planning, most cities stay high and dry.
Farming
Dystopia: Like other other prime agricultural lands around the globe, Nova Scotia loses the Annapolis Valley to rising seas.
Utopia: Nova Scotia has a thriving agricultural industry as people in the city buy most of their food
from low-impact local farmers.
International relations
Dystopia: Canada is overwhelmed with refugees fleeing famine and loss of agricultural land, adding to our own resource problems.
Utopia: Fair trade policies reduce exploitation and help people both here and abroad have thriving local economies.
Transportation
Dystopia: Nova Scotia becomes an effective island, as rising seas inundate the highways to New Brunswick.
Utopia: Long distance travel is by high-speed, low-carbon rail.
City life
Dystopia: Life is hard and cruel, as we don’t have the money to heat our houses or fuel our cars. Halifax
has the same foul feeling as every other city.
Utopia: We travel by transit, bike and by walking. Our houses have been rebuilt to use solar space heating. Halifax is a unique place, with its own identity and sense of place.
This article appears in Apr 21-27, 2011.
