How To Survive the Year 2030

The year 2030 isn’t that far away. And when it arrives, the world will be very different and each of us will have changed, too.

Over the past decade, many global research and governmental organizations have chosen the year 2030 as a benchmark for measuring changes in our quality of life and health standards. And while some changes will seem obvious, we’ll also confront some extraordinary changes that we’ll have to be prepared for. So, buckle up. 2030 is going to be a bumpy and very different ride. Here are some things to start considering:

The world will be hotter and large populations will be moving

Much of the world is focused on what a rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius could mean after 2030. Despite some promising news, millions of people today are already faced with conditions too extreme to endure much longer. By 2030, large populations will be moving inland, towards lakes, higher elevations, northern countries and you may be among them, or receiving them. The good news is that there is still plenty of room on Earth and that most nations are beginning to plan long-term for the eventual migration of hundreds of millions of people.

AI will have the greatest impact on life

Geopolitics and economic trends will increasingly take a back seat to technological advances that will be arriving at dizzying speeds. By 2030, the capabilities of AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) – will touch and connect most everything in our lives. Predictions range from the use of unique, AI-synthesized medical therapies for individual patients to the development of nearly imperceptible changes in society, transportation, and manufacturing to reduce the climate crisis. What is certain, is that no matter what we predict now, technology will look very, very different in 2030.

Electric cars will be everywhere – electric aircraft too

The future of eVTOLS is expected to arrive in large numbers by 2030. Designed for shorter flights with few passengers, eVTOLs (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft) are well into development by major companies. As with electric cars, these personal and commercial “electric taxis” will be quiet, environmentally friendly, and will radically change our ideas of what it takes to get from point A to point B. Driving below those eVTOLs, its predicted that 40 percent of passenger cars will be electric vehicles.

More Americans will be over age-65 and still working

Our aging population isn’t a new story, but increased life expectancy and the cost of living means many retirees will have second careers. By 2030, there will more people over age-65 than under age-18. We’ll see expansion of a multigenerational workforce in which four generations will be working alongside each other. Expect a boom in education and skill improvements for every age group. And expect a rise in multigenerational households as more parents and adult children share increasing living costs.

Automation will keep wages low

Rapid advances in automation in both digital and production businesses will be more pronounced in 2030. Better-educated workers who can complement the new automation as analysts or managers will likely see rising compensation. However, many less-educated workers will see their jobs disappear or their income decline as automation substitutes their tasks. Older workers will need to plan on learning and developing new skills. People will determine how new technology is deployed, not the other way around.

Health care will undergo major transformations

America’s health systems are increasingly being forced to confront their subpar quality, inadequate patient safety, and unsustainable costs. The growth in digital health and shift away from hospital-based care to community and primary care will be more personalized and serve more people before they develop chronic health conditions.

However, Americans will be sicker

Even as health care systems improve, more Americans are becoming sicker and dying earlier. In particular, Millennials – the group that makes up the largest share of the U.S. population – have the fastest declining health of all other age groups. In 2030, Millennials will be 35-49 years old and will continue to have the largest deteriorations in type II diabetes, hyperactivity, and major depression. As 2030 approaches, employers and communities will need to have health and insurance programs in place to meet this continuing crisis.

The Metaverse arrives

The much-hyped Metaverse should be well established in 2030. As the internet and everything connected to it are increasing accessible, the metaverse will offer powerful and immersive digital tools for breakthrough consumer, enterprise, and industrial uses. The creation of digitally-enhanced worlds to interact with, can in turn, more quickly improve our own world. Well beyond dazzling gaming and entertainment experiences, metaverse networks are currently allowing humans to virtually manage transportation networks, to improve real-time simulations of city scale environments, and to evaluate challenges surrounding energy use, health care, climate change, and population trends.