if the world still exists in 2050, what types of problems do you think we will face?

...toxic air, water and land...

...overpopulation, no dogs, cats or other domestic animals...

...new diseases spreading everywhere in a pandemic crisis...

...while the rich got richer, politics and religion rules the world...

Well for starters, why wouldn't the world still exist? 2012 is pure pseudoscience, climate change could be bad but nowhere near being a world-ender, and I don't put any stock in religious prophecies.

While I'm sure that a lot of people will mention climate change, that's something I think we can adjust to without too much trouble. The two biggest problems in mid-century--and they will be very big--will be energy and government.

The world's supply of oil will probably be running out around then, though before that happens it will get quite expensive. Problem is, I don't know that we're building enough alternative energy replacements for it in time to meet our needs. Wind and solar are growing fast, but are still just a small fraction of energy production. Nuclear would be great, but building new reactors is very expensive and takes many years, mostly due to prohibitive regulations, political red tape, and opposition from enviro groups and other scientifically-illiterate people. We probably won't have _severe_ energy shortages, but enough that energy prices (including your electric bill and fuel for your car) will get quite high, and this in turn will raise the cost of everything (including food, which is very energy-intensive), thus putting a major dampener on the economy.

The second big problem will be government. Gov't at all levels, but especially state and federal, has been growing at an unsustainable rate for many years now. (Check out this scary-looking graph: http://blog.mises.org/archives/010917.asp ) By the govt's own estimates, we are already in debt for over $60 Trillion-with-a-T to cover the cost of programs like Medicare and Social Security, and that does not include any other new programs that gov't _will_ create in the future, especially this health-care "reform". $60 trillion is $200,000 for every man, woman and child in the US. That's money each and every one of us will have to pay to get our "free goodies" from gov't. I think that odds are very good that by mid-century, our gov't will implode just like the USSR did in the 1990's, and will take most of the economy with it. We need major changes IN gov't and TO gov't, but I don't think either the Dems or Repubs have the brains or the spines to do it. They will fight to maintain the status quo right up to the end. But hey, I'd love to be proven wrong.

The world will definitely still exist in 2050, and it will still be dominated by humans. However, there will like be massive climate change by then that will have forced the relocation of millions if not billions of people, created resource wars, famines, droughts, plagues.

Its likely that the results of climate change will cause WWIII, if not by 2050, by 2100. But no matter how bad WWIII is, even if we intentionally tried to destroy the earth by detonating every atomic bomb and releasing every poison we could imagine into the biosphere, it wouldn't come close to the even that killed the dinosaurs or other mass extinctions. Earth will bounce back. Life will bounce back. Humans will fcuk it up for themselves.

Judging from the technological explosion, we will be completely exposed to government, our employers, schools and the health care system. Recent developments have shown that there are now computer programs to "read our brain waves" and translate that info into images. We already have facial recognition abilities. This "Big Brother" approach will impede our free will to the nth degree. There will be more strife, war and issues with natural resources. We will be a planet focused on branching out to find alternate planets to exist in the subsequent 50 years. I worry for the next generation having to inherit the current problems and deal with what may come. I hope that this group of young pioneers will recognize the problems early, and work together as a world populace to combat them.

Survival of other colonies on other planetary systems in our solar system.Interplanetary politics,knowing who is ally and who is enemy.The added responsibility of defending ourselves,allies,territory,and resources without destroying ourselves in the process.New cults and religions will spring up in different systems.Saturn itself is a huge system,two rings,unknown number of moons still (30 last time I checked).

If we dont solve our problems on earth with rascism that still remain,we certainly wont get along with any extraterrerstrials.I have read sufficient evidence that shows other humanoid species have colonies on other planets and moons,and there is a government already in place,however,it is obviously opposed to our leaving the planet,and certainly does nothing to help us become more educated besides give the government new weapons ideas.The rest unfortunately,support this oppresive empire due to the fact that they are the strongest,and that open interplanetary contact could damage us very severely.We havent even begun to prepare for it on a public civilian scale.

We are bound to come into contact with species so strange,it could damage our minds if we are not ready,think of the power of telepathy,and telekinesis in advanced rasces.

There will probably be chaos for at least a thousand years I am guessing,just to stabilize our territories on the planets and form working groups with other human species.

This is assuming that the war for earth has ended.

I beleive 2012 will start a conflict that will end in cold war by 2023,and that those problems won't be resolved untill 2050 at the very least.

There are also physics to factor in,we have knowledge of 1% of all there is no know about time,space,energy,and other things we probably cannot even comprehend.

We will be forced to master ourselves as human beings entirely,meaning fully awake mental faculties as well as our bodies genetic adaptibility to new diseases.If we fail that,the human race will die before we even get to mars.

We havent even finished publishing the finds on the rest of the earth yet,there are subterranean cavern systems,underwater mountain ranges,and Antarctica.None of which the public has any access to.

If nothing else we all will have to know fact from fiction,lie from truth, opinion from reality,and beleif from knowledge.The first problem before we get there is,I beleive,money will become entirely worthless and we will go back to a trade-based society.That is bound to accelerate our progress as new drugs,entertainment,weapons,tools,will all be something we will strive to create and attain because for the first time in 5000 years things will actually have a value of thier own money cannot measure.

I think we'll be facing issues of dealing with all the excess from non-biodegradable products, especially plastics and technology; new health issues will continue to grow with the next generations from all the pollution and water treatments we currently are using; chemical hypersensitivity and immune disorders will be prevalent in the mass population, housing alternatives will increase with the growing populations and loss of land; urban revitalization;

We will still have the same moral and ethical problems as today. Except the windmills will be bigger (and will power major cities with electricity).

Over-population, environmental problems, war, limited amounts of natural resources, etc.

obesity

ignorance

hmmm, more senseless violence

read the book 1984- george orwell

it is an eye opener

that would be projection and thinking that we cannot alter our future.

it will be fluid - we have choices to make - things to learn. we are the makers of our destiny. do i know what people will do - nope i only know what i see now.