Superthreats: Quarantine, Ravenous, and Power Struggle
Quarantine Superthreat
"In 2019, Respiratory Distress Syndrome, or ReDS, is here, and it's not going anywhere."
Outbreaks of ReDS have become commonplace, initially in tropical and sub-tropical regions, then spreading to other cities such as Stockholm where over 15,000 citizens are living with ReDS and its chronic, severe symptoms. Relief organizations struggle to handle the situation as it is presently, yet ReDS is spreading to other regions of the world while remaining incurable.
Superstruct Challenge: What can we do in our own communities to provide ReDS relief and support?
Ravenous Superthreat
"In 2019, the food supply chain is broken, so we're inventing new ways to feed ourselves."
Mexico, China, the Middle East and the processed food industry itself are hardest hit. Civil unrest and consumer anger increases in tandem with exponential price hikes. The problem is compounded by the world's soaring demand for bio-fuels. Increased pollution leads to greater contamination of existing food supplies, and stricken populations must resort to consuming potentially tainted foods for sustenance, which could lead to millions getting sick or dying.
Superstruct Challenge: How can we balance the need for safe, affordable food with the need for new sources of energy?
Power Struggle Superthreat
"In 2019, we're all caught up in the alternative fuel wars, as the world fights over what will take the place of oil."
While this situation impacts oil exporting nations, coal plants, and auto workers, it's consumers everywhere who feel the effects of the pervasive fossil fuels industries being displaced. The world is as divided by its choices in alternative energy sources as it is by political boundaries, working against one another in a world system where international standards for alternative energy technologies still haven't been established. Brazil, China, and Russia embrace bio-fuel, while the United States and the European Union are pushing wind and solar power. The end result is competing industries whose infrastructures are wholly incompatible.
Superstruct Challenge: How can our competing industries work together to break the grip of energy chaos?
