Wake-up Call: 2035

by Robert J. Traydon

  After a brief, much needed recess the Principals felt refreshed and were able to continue. It wasn’t easy for them to have to remain silent while listening for such an extended period, but they had no option. The proceedings had been civil up to this point and there would be nothing to gain from interrupting and potentially aggravating the six Supreme Beings. As such, they all continued to listen, making notes in anticipation of the question session.

  Empress Aeryssia stood and began, “The next session is dedicated to the environmental restoration of your planet. The Galacian Senate has given us full authority to take whatever measures are required to save this planet.”

  She proceeded to summarise what the Exploration Division and Galacian Senate had done so far in response to the emergency situation discovered on Earth. She gave sufficient detail for the Principals to fully comprehend the process without wasting any time on semantics. She briefly explained the Planetary Intervention Policy, the Senate assembly, the two ballots and the three remedial threat removal options.

  The Principals were intrigued by what the Empress was saying, until she informed them of the ballot results. Interest had swiftly turned to shock and horror, when they heard that just a single vote had spared the human species from ‘Total Threat Removal’, the prospect of which was unthinkable.

  The Empress then detailed the ‘Suspended Threat Removal’ option that had secured the Senate’s majority vote, and went on to say, “In order for your planet to be saved under this option there is only one course of action that can be followed. Humankind will be handed an ‘Ultimatum’.”

  The Principals glanced at one another with expressions of apprehension.

  She continued, “This is, in effect, an ‘Environmental Restoration Strategy’, which prescribes the corrective measures that need to be implemented by humankind for the planet to be saved. It should be viewed as the new constitution under which all nations and human beings will be governed in the future.

  “This Ultimatum takes the formulation and decision making process out of your hands, thereby saving humankind the indeterminate amounts of time and bureaucratic effort that would have been required to produce your own equivalent strategy. We also fear that its necessary potency would have been severely diluted through political interference. We know exactly what needs to be done to restore environmental equilibrium and, to this effect, our Ultimatum contains a clearly defined register of conditions and targets that humanity must comply with.”

  The Empress continued, “The Ultimatum itself is divided into five ‘key objective’ sections that will need to be directly addressed by your species. These include:

  Population management – Stabilise and reduce the overall human population;

  Cohabitating species population recovery – Stimulate population recovery of cohabitating species and prevent human-induced extinctions;

  Land and ocean expropriation – Transfer designated land and ocean back to nature;

  Atmospheric stabilisation – Reduce emissions that are harmful to the atmosphere; and

  General environmental improvements – Introduce sustainability into all environmentally threatening products, practices and activities.”

  She paused to give the Principals time to take in the information and then spoke, “Be aware that this document is referred to as an Ultimatum because it is exactly that. Humankind must either comply with its register of conditions and targets, or face the consequences of not doing so. Non-compliance with this Ultimatum will be dealt with via a process known as ‘remediation’, which will be detailed to you at a later stage.

  The Principals all considered the potentially misleading benevolence of the term ‘remediation’. Some feared they already knew what it meant. In non-diplomatic language, it would be nothing short of involuntary population correction, forced seizures of land from human occupation, and the potential destruction of both polluting and exploitative human infrastructure.

  The Empress continued, “This may appear to be unreasonable, but this Ultimatum is being enforced for your species’ own benefit. Taking into consideration your current level of technological advancement, adhering to this document is the only viable option that humankind has to ensure the long-term survival of the planet and all of the species it supports, including your own.

  “Your species has been living in a state of euphoric denial for the last 5 000 years, believing that it is the all-important super-species of the planet and that it is entitled to do with it whatever it pleases. But this era is over. From now until the end of time, humankind shall be accountable to the Galactic Federation and its governing principles.

  “This Ultimatum constitutes the single most important document that humanity will ever have in its possession, and I want to make it very clear that compliance thereto is not a choice; it is a directive. Its requirements are not open for debate or negotiation, and will have to be complied with in their entirety if your planet and your species are to be saved.”

  The Principals looked around at each other, very concerned about what this Ultimatum really entailed. Humanity had not been consulted as to its content, and it obviously constituted an unchallengeable decree, to which humanity would have to comply without dissent … or face this so-called remediation.

  The Empress stood up from her seat. As she did so, the translucent sphere awakened. She waved her hand towards it and the Ultimatum’s key objectives and respective conditions and targets emerged. They were supported by an array of tables and charts.

  “We will now detail each key objective section in terms of the Ultimatum requirements, and explain why they are necessary for your planet’s return to a state of environmental equilibrium.”

  10:35 a.m. Observatory: Ultimatum – Human Population Management

  Empress Aeryssia manipulated the hologram. A moment later the myriad of information pertaining to the Ultimatum’s ‘Population management’ section was brought forward.

  “We are aware that population management is a highly contentious subject, especially in terms of human religion, culture and politics. Almost every nation regards the concept as taboo. China is the rare exception, where population management laws have been in existence for over half a century.”

  She looked at the Chinese President and spoke to him directly, “You have an immense head start on your compatriots in this regard, since your population has already adopted the philosophy. Your current population management policy has proved that a thriving nation can exist with a framework of this nature in place. This invaluable knowledge should be sought by other nations around the world, rather than shunned.”

  She looked at all the Principals and continued, “This may appear to be the most daunting Ultimatum section that you’ll have to deal with, but you should also view it as the highest impact ‘quick win’ section, with respect to restoring environmental equilibrium. There is no doubt that stabilising and reducing the human population will alleviate the planet’s environment of its predominant burden, and maximise the chance of environmental recovery.

  “As all the enlightenment information showed us, every environmental issue can be attributed to the simple fact that there are too many human beings on this planet. According to our calculations, if every human being were to have the same lifestyle as those in developed nations, the maximum human population size that the Earth could sustain indefinitely is 500 million, and this population would need to be fairly distributed across the world’s continents. The recommended optimum population size, once you have reformed your civilisation in terms of renewable energies and sustainable technologies, is 1 billion human beings. This is the ultimate target your species should be aiming for. To exceed this number would compromise your planet’s long-term survival.”

  The Principals raised their eyebrows. To reduce the human population from 10 billion to just 1 billion was inconceivable.

  The Empress took note of their incredulous expressions. “The target may appear to be completely unrealistic to you in your world’s
current context. But if humanity had been given this target 2 000 years ago, it would have been seen as perfectly reasonable since the human population was only 220 million then. It is only due to the fact that your population has grown so uncontrollably in the last 250 years that this target doesn’t seem fair. You should also note that before 0 BCE, no megafauna species ever numbered more than 200 million and no primate species ever exceeded 40 million. Sharing this planet fairly amongst all species will benefit the entire planet, including yourselves, in the long term.

  “I urge you not to lose hope at the thought of this seemingly unmanageable target, because sufficient time will be given to you to achieve it. Through steady and disciplined management of your population, this optimum population size can be achieved by reasonable means.”

  She called up a graph showing required population size versus time. It showed the historical curve increasing up to present-day 2035 CE. From there the target curve slowed, flattened out and then steadily declined to 2235 CE, where it stabilised at 1 billion.

  “The Ultimatum defines your short-term population targets in three-year interim periods over the next 21 years. These will lay the foundation for your species to accomplish its ultimate optimum target of 1 billion, which we expect to be reached within two centuries.

  The Empress continued after a brief pause, “At this stage, I must emphasise that there is no safety margin built into this 200-year population projection. It is the absolute minimum that needs to be achieved in order for environmental restoration to be assured. Since your average annual death rate is currently less than 1% per annum, your population will need to be managed very carefully to achieve the interim targets.

  “In order to lower the possibility of international disputes, the Ultimatum stipulates independent interim and ultimate population targets specific to each nation. These independent targets relate directly to each nation’s current population growth rate, population density and environmental footprint. A few nations are in the fortunate position to already have declining populations, which will greatly simplify their population management efforts.

  The Empress asserted, “The Ultimatum’s population management section will need to be comprehensively integrated into every nation’s constitution. It is to become the fundamental pillar around which all your government policy and legislation must revolve. Having a population management policy is no longer a choice, it is an obligation.

  She spoke for a further 10 minutes, detailing key aspects of the population management conditions that she felt needed specific mention. She stressed that all were essential and could not be avoided. The population situation had grown so out of hand that reversing it was inevitably going to cause discontent and resistance – but this would need to be comprehensively dealt with.

  The Principals listened anxiously, knowing that the integration of a population management system into society would be extremely challenging. They expected nothing less than widespread outrage and hostility. Edward Payton was particularly fascinated by the population graph shown in the hologram. It was quite something to see the near vertical human population tower tapering off and then declining back to the level that it had been back in 1785 CE. He contemplated what would be required of people around the world, and how difficult it would be to follow the target curve and bring the population back down to this sustainable level.

  He knew that, currently, there were five children being born for every two people dying, which was unsustainable. In stark contrast, elephant poaching across Africa had resulted in the inverse situation, with the species losing five individuals for every two being born.

  The Empress brought the Ultimatum’s population management section to a close, then handed over to Kestryn to present its next section.

  10:40 a.m. Earth: Washington Post Head Office

  Helen Dealy was relaxing at her desk enjoying her usual mid-morning cup of coffee. The peace and quiet was interrupted for the third time in 10 minutes by her mobile phone’s ring tone. She had ignored the two previous calls when she had seen who was calling, then rolled her eyes in annoyance at this third call from the same person. She let it ring 10 times before finally answering.

  “Hello Charles,” she said sounding slightly irritated.

  Congressman Greenfield pretended not to notice her tone. “Helen, how are you doing today?”

  “I’m fine. Just very busy at the moment, that’s all,” said Helen distantly.

  Greenfield didn’t want to keep her for long, so he decided to cut to the chase. “Helen, I have a tip-off for you on a story developing in the White House.”

  Helen immediately sat up straight and pulled her chair towards her desk, pen in hand. She had been putting up with this average relationship for just about as long as she could handle, waiting patiently for a possible inside scoop. Finally her perseverance was about to pay off.

  “Really, what’s going on there?” she asked, now fully engaged in the conversation.

  “I cannot confirm anything directly yet, but I can tell you what I know so far.”

  “Go on …” she said excitedly.

  Greenfield proceeded to tell her everything he had witnessed up to that point. This was the break that Helen had been waiting for. She pushed her luck.

  “Can I go live with the story on our news website, Charles?” asked Helen.

  “Well, I’m not so sure … I haven’t really confirmed anything,” said Greenfield hesitantly.

  “It would mean so much to me and it would give my career the boost it needs. It would make me so happy,” she said in a flattering tone.

  “Only for you, Helen – but you cannot reveal my name as the source of this information. I’m on my prepaid mobile phone, so my call shouldn’t be traceable.”

  “I promise I won’t, Charles … I hope you’re going to keep me updated.”

  “I sure will,” he responded after her reassurance.

  “Thank you so much my dear. You have no idea how much this means to me. I really appreciate it,” said Helen.

  That was the first time Greenfield had heard her utter the words ‘my dear’ in conversation with him and he swelled with pride and expectation.

  “Anything for you, Helen. You’ll hear from me the moment I have anything else.”

  “Thanks Charles. Bye for now.” Helen hung up, clenched her fists in celebration and then immediately got to work. This was big news … career changing news.

  10:45 a.m. Observatory: Ultimatum – Cohabitating Species’ Population Recovery

  Kestryn stood and ran through the Ultimatum section dealing with ‘Cohabitating species population recovery’, which included the population reduction of domesticated species. The register of conditions and targets under this section was extensive.

  She underscored a key condition that a broad spectrum of meats and other animal products would need to be phased out of human diet over the course of the next decade. Humans would need to steadily reduce their consumption of dairy products, wool and meats – specifically beef, mutton and pork; while shifting to eco-friendly alternatives and moderated quantities of venison, chicken and fish. Human protein requirements would have to be substituted by dietary inclusion of various plants, vegetables and fruits. She explained that this was necessary to reduce the overall number of livestock and corresponding amounts of both cultivated and pasture land area being used to feed them.

  Currently, pasture land being used for livestock grazing accounted for 25% of all land on Earth, while a whopping 40% of cultivated arable land was being used to grow crops for livestock feed. Natural vegetation clearance corresponded closely with the growth in livestock numbers. All of this equated to an astonishing 50% of arable land in the world being dedicated to feeding humanity’s five billion domesticated megafauna, which included cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, goats and others. Only 12,5% of that land area, solely dedicated to crop cultivation for human consumption, would be needed to yield the same level of nutritional value as that of all the livestock it fe
d.

  Kestryn pointed out, “In the United States of America, domesticated animals alone consume over 70% of the oats and 40% of the corn produced in that nation. Also consider the fact that it takes 10 kilograms of crop cultivated livestock feed to produce one kilogram of meat, an inefficiency ratio of 10 to one.”

  She confirmed that the number of domesticated megafaunal livestock would need to be reduced to a combined worldwide total of just 50 million animals within the next decade. “This will result in vast tracts of land being returned to the natural domain for environmental rejuvenation and population recovery of wild fauna and flora.”

  Kestryn then ran through various region-specific lists of ocean and land species which were prescribed for human consumption. She stressed that the lists varied per region, because the environmental impact of indigenous species was significantly less than that of their non-indigenous domesticated counterparts.

  Edward Payton considered how the world would react to a global prohibition of popular meats. He expected nothing less than a severe backlash – similar to one faced by the Australian government when it attempted to implement a nationwide ban on alcohol in the late 2020s*.

  [* The Australian Government’s attempted prohibition of alcohol between 2028 and 2033, had failed in similar fashion to that of the United States a century earlier. Even though every Australian citizen knew that it had admirable intention, they were not willing to accept it. There was no doubt that their society as a whole would be far better off not having alcohol; especially in terms of alcohol related deaths, domestic abuse, road accidents, medical expenditure, incarceration, lost family time and unproductive man-hours in the workplace. But these negatives failed to supersede the human desire for it, or as turned out to be the case, the importance of the government’s lucrative tax revenue stream generated from it.]

  He thought about how humanity’s need for alcohol wholly epitomised its need for an unsustainable way of life. In both cases, the relatively trivial needs far outweighed the negative consequence on society and the environment.