The Verge of Disaster: Things Too Close to Collapsing

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The Verge of Disaster: Things Too Close to Collapsing

Everything you love is held together with toothpicks and gum.

Published 9 months ago in Funny

Though instability may add a bit of flair to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Mad Hatter's signature headwear, and of course, your ex-girlfriend's personality, sometimes rocky terrain isn't a kitschy quirk. Case in point? The bee populations, infrastructure, and digital systems silently reaching the brink of collapse.

From topsoil depletion to the inevitable fall of a red supergiant star (that is somehow entirely unrelated to Chappell Roan) here are 21 things on the verge of collapse that no one is talking about.

1
“Most municipal water supplies in the US, especially in Florida and New Orleans. I work in the industry. It’s terrible.”

2
“The Florida citrus industry -- specifically oranges. There is a fungus that is spreading and infecting groves across the state. Unfortunately, we have no way to kill the fungus. The only solution is to cut down all citrus trees within a certain radius of an infected tree. Many farmers are choosing to sell their farm rather than try to start all over.”

3
“The Colorado River as the main water supply for 3 states with major cities.”

4
“Without human intervention, your local energy grid is only about 6 to 24 hours away from complete collapse, depending on how greedy the utility company is in terms of automatic backups. The electricity grid will likely fail first and within hours. Other energy sources like city heat or natural gas will take longer because those rely less on active human inputs. You remember in The Last of US TV show how Nick Offerman is in a ‘Home Depot’, the power goes out, and he remarks "that was fast"? That bit was much more accurate than anyone not involved in utilities would ever care to know about.”

5
“Factual information on the Internet. There's a churn of AI created content that's being taken as fact, and used as the basis for new articles and content. Sifting through information to validate it is already too much effort for many and will only become more difficult.”

6
“The Ogallala Aquifer. You know how Kansas and Nebraska are known for essentially being endless fields of wheat and corn? Well they do that by drilling wells to one of the world's largest aquifers deep under the Midwest. There isn't enough consistent rain fall in those areas for all those crops, so well water makes up the difference. But, we're draining it and it can't be replenished. Once it's drained, it's Dust Bowl 2.0 and no more large scale farming in the Midwest.”

7
“The Garisenda -- one of two remaining 12th century towers in Bologna, Italy. I saw them in April. It looks pretty ridiculous to be honest. They have the area blocked off by some shipping containers because that towers probably going to fall any day. It looks like there are some half-hearted restoration attempts happening but no idea what their plan is…”

8
“The food chain. I’m still amazed no one is talking about the fact that insect biomass has declined by ∼47% and abundance declined by ∼61.5% over the last 35 years. In some areas it’s measured 75% decline in a single generation. This “insect apocalypse” is…very bad.”

9
“Antibacterial soaps are not better than regular soaps, in fact studies show that antibacterial soaps causes the bacteria to increase its antibiotic resistance.”

10
“Internet security. Both keeping our information safe & keeping the internet lights on. Some predict that a 24 hour worldwide shutdown could be cataclysmic & this whole system is being held up by toothpicks.”

11
“Bees. We are losing bees at an alarming rate. As far as important species go, they are top of the list. They are critical pollinators: they pollinate 70 of the around 100 crop species that feed 90% of the world. Honey bees are responsible for $30 billion a year in crops.”

12
“Well, top soil is getting super depleted. What used to be yards deep fertile soil is down to inches. Washed or blown away due to agriculture and irrigation.”

13
“Housing prices along the coast in Florida. Most of the state is barely three feet above sea level and flooding is getting worse and worse every year. In fifty years, sea level is going to be much more inland than it is now and no amount of "beach restoration" is going to help it.”

14
“Chrysler/Dodge. Many dealers can't get rid of all their 2023 models from last year still sitting on the lot.”

15
“The AMOC: known to Americans as the Gulf Stream section of the current. The ocean is warming, and the whole system is starting to slow.”

16
“The Amazon. To some degree it generates its own weather patterns with the vast amounts of water evaporated into the atmosphere from leaves. Deforestation is putting it close to a tipping point where it can no longer maintain those patterns. Once reached, the feedback loop is likely irreversible.”

17
“The red supergiant star, Betelgeuse. It's speculated to soon be going to or have already undergone a core collapse supernova but the light of the explosion hasn't yet reached us. It will shine as bright as a full moon for a year when its light reaches Earth, casting its own shadows even. The radius of the supernova is just out of harm's reach, but wild animals tend to use the moon to help them navigate at night, and scientists are concerned that wildlife all over the globe may confuse this supernova with the moon, potentially disrupting the ecosystem.”

18
“The US blood supply is still hard hit from COVID and the American Red Cross isn’t lying when they say we’re in an emergency platelet shortage so if you can donate platelets, please donate.”