It’s never nice to fool Mother Nature.

Mother Nature has been getting angrier for years—and I’ve been sighting this trend in one form or another for decades. But today extreme weather is only getting more violent and, ultimately, devastating: California burns with multiple wildfires, including the deadliest in its history, the arctic “browns” at an unprecedented velocity, Asia is pummeled on multiple fronts and greenhouse gas levels balloon to their highest ever. Warnings are dire on the economic impacts this growing ecological disaster will have across the globe—with vulnerable supply chains from farmland to shipping ports affecting the livelihoods of millions. Less obvious potentialities abound, as well, including languages lost forever. Also on the rise: Our sense of powerlessness to right the ship. This generation of DIYers wants to solve societal problems but can’t see the big picture; their solutions tend to the microlevel (plastic bottles, espresso machine pods, compost) and hyperlocal (we’ve been saying global is the new local for ages; we can now say the converse—local is the new global, because now everything touches). Watch the great debate that continues to this day on whether the evil focus lands on Mother Nature or human nature.

 Red flags for the red planet.

Going to the moon seems so last century. A new frontier is—finally—seemingly within reach, and the Mars quake is rumbling. NASA has recently landed a ship there to study and map the planet’s interior. Considering our rapidly depleting resources on our home planet, might Mars be a fresh source for the things we humans need to survive? Not so fast, say some physicists and scientists, who worry that with any human contact will come contamination—and the possibility of wiping out any microscopic life native to Mars. Not surprisingly, the always controversial Elon Musk already has designs for taking a trip there himself. With a full-blown refugee crisis ongoing here on earth, will we be seeing the uber-wealthy becoming willing planetary expats? Expect the practical—and ethical—debates to rage on as the privileged upper crust seek sanctuary from coming travail.

This is an excerpt from my 2019 trends report. Want to read the full report? Download it here.