No more cheap oil

Probability: 95%

Timeline: 25 years

The age of cheap oil is slowly coming to an end.

People are slowly starting to wake up to this fact, but unfortunately there are a lot of organizations that depend on it and really don't want this era to end.

Short-term thinkers want to plunder and use up the last little bit we have, at the same rate that we have been for decades.

More progressive leaders realize that we need to use the remaining oil we have to develop new sustainable technologies, so that we can continue to enjoy improving (or at least consistent) quality of life.

Hopefully we won't be stupid enough to squander the last bits of fossil fuels.

Even squirrels are smart enough to put away a few nuts for the winter.

Are we as smart as our furry little friends?

Let's hope so.

Sea level rise has big effects

Probability: 90%

Timeline: 25 years

This one seems to be a no-brainer. Just quickly reading the Wikipedia entry about sea level rise show this to be very likely.

The real questions to consider at this point are:

1. How fast will it happen?
2. What areas will be impacted the most?

Certainly low-lying island nations are most at risk. In fact, large parts of Tuvalu have already been evacuated and the entire country may eventually have to be abandoned!

How well can coastal populations deal with a 1-meter rise in sea levels by the end of the century? We'll have to see.