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whole countries such as Mauritius and Tuvalu will need to evacuate due to rising sea levels. But while coastlines in much of the world may suffer, climate change will be a positive development in some areas. Specifically, Canada; northern Europe; Russia; Alaska; Patagonia, Argentina; and southern Africa may all experience real estate booms.

Continuing with the New York example, Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently proposed a $20 billion climate change plan for the city.

new cities, which would cater to the “well-heeled,” would be built in places where rising sea levels would actually improve local climates. Rising temperatures and an increase in arable land as a result of climate change is expected to occur in Russia, Canada, Scandinavia, Chile, Argentina, southern Africa, the Great Lakes region

Many cities are now facing impacts such as water scarcity, flooding and heatwaves, which are expected to become more frequent and intense than they are used to. Cities need to start investing in adaptation measures using ideas and best practice from around the world.

Climate change adaptation should be flexible to accommodate uncertainty

Adaptation should work with nature, not against it.

the average desktop computer now has the raw processing power equivalent to all of the human brains on Earth combined

There is no longer a clear distinction between human and machine intelligence

Full immersion VR is now a mainstream phenomenon

Will China's Great GREEN Wall save the country from dust storms? 100 billion tree project could halt advancing Gobi Desert

advancing

China is planting huge strips of trees to stop the Gobi DesertFor decades the desert has been advancing and causing serious dust storms in key cities such as BeijingSince 1978 the government has been planting trees to reverse the widespread deforestation that took place in ChinaNow a recent study suggests the project has been a successThey found increased vegetation and lower levels of dust storm intensityBy 2050 100 billion trees will be planted across a tenth of the country 

In the case of Russia, these numbers assume that its current demographic decline is counterbalanced and gradually reversed by the effects of an Arctic windfall, and that it can maintain effective control of its Far East region.

Ignoring the effects of environmental change, China will be by far the largest economy, with a GDP that is 40 percent of the total for the top twenty economies. The US will be second with a GDP well under half that of China. India will be third and Brazil will be fourth.

Taking environmental change into account, China and the US will be neck-and-neck with 24 percent each of the GDP for the top twenty, Russia will be third, Brazil fourth and India fifth. Most of China’s catch-up will happen early, prior to 2030; before climate change really bites.

As more people move into cities, natural resources decline, climate change heats up, and the "sharing economy" continues to pick up steam, our notions of family will continue to shift.

five different types of families of the future: the Multi-Gens, the Silver Linings, Ruralites, the Tandem Tribe, and Modular Movers. The firm also work out how different brands might service each family type

The Multi-Gens are exactly what they sound like--multiple generations of families living together.