By Larry Chan

Global warming has been in the news since the 1990s, when even elementary schools taught about the greenhouse effect. In the US, Vermont is the state most affected by climate change. Being a non-political writer, I am not going to comment on whether global warming is taking place. Rather, I am going to point out the benefits of a changing climate. 

The Ordovician Extinction eliminated much of the primitive life forms on Earth. Creatures that went extinct included the anomalocaris, kimberella, and haikouichthys. The reason why these organisms don’t sound familiar is because they were simple animals compared to animals of the next geological era. The subsequent Silurian Period had sea scorpions, jawed fish and the predecessors of insects. 

The next extinction, the Devonian, allowed for the evolution of amphibians, bony fish, and crescent-headed animals called lepyspondyli. Being on land allowed for more physical complexity. Marine life forms usually do not have necks because it’s easier to turn the entire body around. Lepyspondyli’s abnormal shape suggests that terrestrial environments enforced anatomical structure, complete with necks, articulated skulls and jointed appendages. 

The most recent mass extinction 65 million years ago famously allowed for the evolution of mammals into mankind. The human brain is the most complex object in the known universe. There is a pattern to extinction events – they result in geometric developments where the ecosystem generates new and more interesting organisms. Ergo, if global warming is currently taking place, it too might result in a more diverse ecosystem. 

Some complain that mankind is responsible for wreaking havoc on nature. If this is so, then mankind’s extinction to global warming should solve the problem. Once humans are removed from the food chain, then the planet has a chance to reestablish equilibrium. 

Others state that the elimination of a species is a tragedy because the species can never be brought back. These are examples of animals that mankind has destroyed: the dodo bird, the passenger pigeon, and the thylacine. Was the dodo really that interesting? Aside from the fact that it could open its jaw at an obtuse angle, was the thylacine really that interesting? Colossal Biosciences may want to cease their de-extinction projects in favor of generating new life forms that can improve the environment. 

Being a science fiction writer, I often speculate on what future Earth life will be like. Global warming would increase the frequency of hurricanes. Consequently, North American horses might evolve clawed hooves that can latch onto rocks in the event of a tornado. These hooves might evolve into hunting weapons, transforming the horse into a predatory animal. Wildfires are also an effect of increasing temperatures. Pinecones that release seeds following a fire might require an additional energy source and evolve into carnivorous plants. Pinecones might start spraying spikes or entrapping insects. Rising sea levels would increase ocean water pressure for deep-sea fish. The deep-sea angler might rise to mid-ocean levels, where its bioluminescent angler will become a sharpened hunting barb instead of a lighting mechanism. Landmasses becoming flooded and too hot for survival might cause aerial organisms to adapt. Bats and flying insects might evolve for permanent flight, where they never land on ground for the course of their lives, and drink from cloud moisture. Or, they might evolve for a marine lifestyle. Bats might become aquatic animals, increasing in blubber size and using their wings as fins. Insects might evolve to become the size of bluefin tuna, developing flippers on their six legs and breathing from multiple oversized spiracles atop their heads. With declining bee populations, dragonflies might fill the ecological niche and become a hive species. Perhaps they would produce a new type of honey in their colonies: dragonfly honey, possibly of a different color like blue or green. 

Many things in life exhibit both positive and negative results. Global warming has detriments and benefits. 

Larry Chan is a screenwriter and director. He wrote and directed the films Wereshark: Neptunerise and Reinek: Marslight, starring Julianne Michelle and Wandalese Miranda. He was a semifinalist in the 2019 Page Screenwriting Awards.