Washington DC 2209

Assuming we don't wind up in some Fallout-esque post-apocalyptic wasteland within the next 200 years, I imagine DC will look much like it does right now. This may seem counter-intuitive to some readers. Shouldn't the United States be a dried up husk of its former self, ravaged by climate change, flooding, and environmental degradation? Well, the truth is much of the environmental havoc that we've been wreaking on the planet is being done in places outside the United States. It's true that we still have pollution here, and there are environmental issues here such as mountain-top removal, nuclear waste, and coal slurries. But the truth of the matter is that the vast majority of the harm being done to the environment is happening outside the United States, in places where most of the production for our goods is done, like China and India.

It's been said that breathing the air in some parts of China is the equivalent of smoking a pack (possibly more) of cigarettes a day. India has very serious problems with its water and the impact its having on agriculture in the subcontinent. Countries throughout the developing world are becoming the recipients of our waste products, toxic or otherwise, and their air and water quality is going down as a result of this and the shift of production to these countries. Whereas the most pressing issue that the developing world has to come to terms with is global warming (and a very serious concern it is), developing nations have a whole host of issues that bedevil them, such as soil degradation, water pollution, species extinction, and even ecological collapse. The environment in many of these developing nations is being visibly altered for the worse.

By contrast, the US environment has more or less stabilized. Yes there are still problems with deforestation and the side-effects of coal mining and oil drilling. But these problems are more localized than before, and many steps have been taken by the US government and citizenry to better protect their environment, such as reforestation, wetlands protection, etc. That's why environmental degradation has been slowed or even stopped in many areas of the United States. These steps are sadly lacking from many developing nations and they are the ones who will suffer as a result. While climate change could have a major effect on our lives and surroundings in the United States, the inland areas of the United States (including Washington) will not be nearly as affected in 200 years as those developing nations who shoulder much of the burden of production.