We live during interesting times. The global political climate is worsening, social media has warped our understanding of empathy and community, and all capital will soon be in the hands of the same five people.

Sounds gloomy, but many people agree. When it comes to the planet, 42% people from 33 countries believe that parts of their countries will become uninhabitable because of extreme weather. In other bad news, almost half of those living in the U.S. and Western Europe fear that a third world war is likely to start in the next five to 10 years.

But there also are some niche things that most us don’t know. Threats to certain ecosystems, old infrastructure, and complex processes in our oceans are just some of the things people have shared in an online thread under the question “What is currently on the brink of collapse but no one is talking about it?”

• Read More: “We Are In A Mass Extinction Event”: These 46 Things Have People Concerned About The Future

#1

The orca pod known as J-pod, that are residents of the Pudget Sound, are starving as the salmon population is collapsing.

arubablueshoes:

J pod is actually doing better than the others. K pod is down to 14 individuals with the most recent member born in 2022 as of the latest census back in April of this year. The whole SRKW pod is basically screwed. It’s sad.

matt_minderbinder:

Fisheries here in the great lakes are collapsing too. Invasive species and warning waters from climate change completely change the ecosystem. Food patterns are changing as is habitat. It’s a smaller model of what’s happening in our oceans and people are treating it all as if any of this is normal.

Image credits: Inkqueen12

#2

Honestly, I’d say the internet. Everything requires an account, everything collects your information, you can’t own anything cause you can only get subscriptions to services. There are way too many social media platforms, which are somehow all owned by the same few mega corporations (Meta, Google, Microsoft etc.) AI is slowly taking over everything and spewing out misinformation left and right.

The appealing thing about the internet used to be how “free” it felt, it wasn’t governed by corporations or governments, and it truly felt like a place where humans could have their own thing in peace. Now it’s treated more like a shopping mall/homeland security checkpoint that also somehow gives you social anxiety and is dangerously addictive because corporations have found the psychological tactics to hook you.

ole-oak:

While the AI makes art and likes it with their own bots, the rest of us can go out to the park and have picnics together 🙂

Image credits: dresscode_trenchcoat

#3

Surprised I didn’t see many posts about insects. We are in a mass extinction event of something like 60% of their population.

EmotionalJellyfish31:

When I mention where have all the bugs gone on the windscreen to people, that’s when they stop and think and realise the same. We have Christmas beetles that used to be everywhere at night at Christmas. I remember playing night tennis with my family and I used to run around saving all the Xmas beetles off the court as a kid and not actually play tennis. Now I have not seen 1 in years. It’s so sad.

Image credits: Senrakdaemon

#4

Maybe not on the brink but may be approaching – The AMOC, or Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, is a large system of ocean currents that acts like a conveyor belt, circulating warm and cold water throughout the Atlantic Ocean. This circulation plays a crucial role in regulating global and regional climates by distributing heat and influencing weather patterns. Recent research suggests the AMOC may be slowing down, and there’s a concern about a potential collapse, which could lead to significant climate shifts.

TeacherRecovering:

When the Canadian ice sheets melt, they will input a huge amount of cold water that will cool northern Europe.

Image credits: whoknows370

#5

Chinook salmon. Chinook are their main food source because of the fat content, and they’re on the brink of collapse. I mean, it’s not looking good for all salmon species, but when/if the Chinook go extinct, that’s the first big domino to fall in the Salish Sea ecosystem.

Everchangingbeetroot:

The fact that I know this and people have already been typing this terrifies me. I wish news reported more important matters such as this.

HotGarbage (OP):

I hear you. I’ve been fishing my entire life and used to catch salmon every summer in the PNW and have just watched the runs dwindle down to a trickle. It’s super sad. The news doesn’t really report on it because the US doesn’t really have news anymore, just platforms to spin narratives to make the most money possible. Unfortunately, a story like this wouldn’t make enough people angry to get enough clicks, therefor, not making enough money.

Image credits: HotGarbage

#6

Bridges, railroad lines, power grids, water pipes – some of them decades old and unstable. (Germany).

JediOrDie:

America is waaaay worse. Somethings you listed are from the 1800’s held together with duct tape.

JustTheBeerLight:

The US has this unique problem that everything was built during the New Deal (30s-40s), so the expiration dates on bridges, dams, roads all run out at the same time.

Image credits: DURAKSTARSde

#7

I think our civilization’s ability to write without Generative AI. I believe writing is thinking, and it provides clarity to our thoughts. A vast majority of university students are now relying on services like chat gpt which I believe will eventually affect us in a long run. I don’t have research backing up my claim, and I hope I’m wrong. Regardless, I’m worried.

Image credits: Loose-Web9138

#8

Here in the UK – the water table. Already seen massive drought in the north with unprecedented lack of rainfall this year. Reservoirs and rivers lower than they’ve been in decades. On top of leaking pipes that date back to WW2, and we could honestly be talking about real drinking water shortages in 5-10 years.

TDA_Liamo:

But then we get very wet years like last year. The UK isn’t going to become a desert, but we will see swings from drought to floods, with possible water shortages if a drought goes on for a long time.

AttemptingToBeGood:

The droughty conditions wouldn’t necessarily be a problem usually. The bigger issue is probably the fact our population has grown by 20% officially (the real number is likely higher) since we built our last reservoir, which was in 1992. We have one desalination plant but that has been shuttered for years.
If we have water shortage issues, it will primarily be on the state, not the climate.

Image credits: Overall-Habit5284

#9

A bunch of small ecosystems around the world

We’ve already seen reef habitats collapse. A lot of people don’t seem to understand that the coral isn’t the only thing affected; all of the fish, invertebrates, and reptiles that may live in that area will abandon it when it dies.

Peat swamps are being overharvested and destroyed by the peat moss business. Kelp forests are being destroyed by invasive urchins, certain waterways are being drained for irrigation/commercial use (like the Aral inland sea), wetlands are suffering due to pollution and deforestation is driving out keystone species that are necessary for life in those areas.

And almost all of it is being either directly or indirectly caused by us.

Thinks_22_Much:

Coral reefs also protect huge swaths of the American coastline from storm surge flooding during hurricanes. The collapse of this coral is part of what has contributed to the record flood damage we’ve seen from these storms in recent decades.

Image credits: Icefirewolflord

#10

Teachers, not teaching itself, but the whole system around it. So many teachers are underpaid, overworked, and just done. A lot are quitting quietly, or switching careers, and schools are struggling to replace them. It’s kind of scary how fast it’s unraveling but no one’s really screaming about it yet.

brapo68:

As a teacher ill say this. If you ever considered becoming a teacher, now is a great time. Due to the shortage we have all kinds of alt programs to license.
I love my job but I do understand why others dont. School administration, and school culture make the job.
I appreciate someone noticing us by the way.

Image credits: gespog123

#11

Civilisations decline/collapse over generations – I’d suggest that there is a strong possibility that “the free liberal west” is in the early stages of a multi-generational decline, not unlike that of the Roman empire. Facebook and Netflix are our bread and circuses while around us cultures that are not compatible with our (democratic, egalitarian, progressive, liberal) values are rising to challenge and eventually displace us (think BRICS + ME). It won’t happen in my lifetime, but it is happening.

crazyclue:

Along those lines, I think the democratic political system has gotten so gridlocked, corporatized, social media-centric, bot driven, echo chambered, and machined that it is starting a multigenerational decline itself. The next great civilization will probably come out of some new system, whatever it is, that either totally rejects or uber perfects the current trends in a novel way.
This sort of coincides with the concepts in the book Bowling Alone (at least in my mind), but I don’t think it’s entirely predictive or correct on where the future lies. We haven’t seen big enough quakes in the bedrock yet.

Image credits: jannw

#12

Food prices are about to skyrocket in the US. Due to certain outside factors, farms are reporting 80% of their workers arent showing up. They don’t have the manpower to harvest the crops, some of which need to be harvested wiithin a one day window. Farmers fear they may spoil on the plant. There is the possibility of food shortages, and may have a major ripple effect throughout the world due to the US role as a major food exporter.

Image credits: Miserable_Smoke

#13

The movie industry feels that way in Hollywood right now.

theducks:

Agreed. I used to see several movies per year.. literally the only thing I’ve been slightly interested in seeing was Nicolas Cage’s The Surfer, which sickens me to be honest.

Image credits: THE_TRIP_KEEPER

#14

The worlds natural ecosystems.

#15

Everything.

Bottom half of the entire u.s. population only own 2.5% of wealth. Wages have stagnated for decades, costs have soared.

Guess what? Consumer spending is finally so low that Mcdonalds is begging people to come back. Small businesses are dropping like flies.

Theres about to be a whole lot of people homeless in a decade.

The people living paycheck to paycheck a few years ago are now homeless. Cycle repeats.

Then you have rampant corruption, all the U.S. media is owned by 6 companies.

Few countries are much better in terms of income/spending.

#16

Produce. Immigrant farm workers are either in ICE detention and being processed for deportation, or they’re justifiably too scared to be available. Nobody else has the intestinal fortitude to do the work. Fruit and veg aren’t showing up on store shelves — they’re all out rotting in fields and orchards.

#17

Bees. They are basically gone. I seen two this summer so far and I have extensive gardens planted with native species.

#18

The Cascadia Subduction Zone.

Altril2010:

There was a really interesting article published a month or so ago about the subduction zone. It turns out that not all the faults are connected. So even when the “big one” hits the way the plates react is going to be slightly different than originally projected. Some areas will be much worse off and a few others may not see as much as an impact. It also means that if one area of the fault slips it doesn’t necessarily mean that the whole zone will.
No evidence for an active margin-spanning megasplay fault at the Cascadia Subduction Zone

Image credits: FangAndBoard

#19

Democracy.

#20

The US.

Blenderhead36:

The imminent collapse of the US is possibly the most-talked-about thing in the world. I’ve had to stop listening to multiple podcasts that are not about current events because of how much time they were devoting to the imminent collapse of the US.

Image credits: Visual-Try4051

#21

The Anthropocene.

Anthropocene is a term that has been used to refer to the period of time during which humanity has become a planetary force of change. It appears in scientific and social discourse, especially with respect to accelerating geophysical and biochemical changes that characterize the 20th and 21st centuries on Earth.

Image credits: EatsAlotOfBread

#22

Restaurant industry. What use to be a once a week treat or every payday is now every few months. Night out now cost a week’s worth of groceries.

#23

Us constitution.

#24

Society. We are living through unprecedented technological and econonomical upheaval and I think almost everyone can feel it. The fabric that holds our communities and societies together is slowly unraveling.

#25

The Gulf Stream.

#26

Hope. Desire to live.

#27

Fireflies.

#28

Between climate change (frequency & severity of storms) and inflation/tariffs (cost to repair), the insurance industry is taking a huge hit.

Premiums are on the rise to try to offset it, which as a consumer I’m not happy about either, but a few more major catastrophes and even the largest, most stable carriers could belly up.

#29

I mean, human civilization truthfully but people are talking about it. Especially the United States. It’s being discussed but people are convinced something like that can’t happen. Ya know because powerful countries and civilizations have NEVER collapsed before.

#30

Western civilization. Crumbling infrastructure, regulatory capture, increasingly authoritarian governments with autocratic aspirations, idiocracy of the masses. It’s all lining up.

#31

Humanity.

#32

Firehouse Subs, the other day they sent a 50% off your order by ordering online, within 20 minutes of ordering the 50% off order they sent a free sub with any purchase coupon in an email. I walked out of that place with an additional sub for the price of a cookie. They got to be going belly up, with all the coupons they send out.

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