It is clear that global warming will have negative consequences. If ocean levels rise, there is a risk that low-lying land areas will be washed away, but this will not happen overnight. We can try to build dams or move settlements further away from the coastline. The negative impact cannot be precisely predicted because it is unknown how humanity will respond and adapt to what is happening.

Some researchers were of the opinion that the hostilities in Syria were caused by a prolonged drought, which created problems for agriculture in one part of the country and led to the population's food needs not being met. However, more detailed studies revealed additional facts. It is true that there was a drought, but the government had not previously cared for these regions, officials were corrupt, and internal ethnic conflicts were taking place there. Had that not been the case, Syria would have been sufficiently capable of absorbing the climate problem.

Consequently, not everything can be blamed solely on the climate, but a small part can – and who is to say how much? Therefore, I would be cautious about invoking catastrophe and scaremongering with crisis scenarios. To answer the question – atmospheric warming will have negative consequences, but it is difficult to predict what will happen to the economy and to society as a whole.

In his 1968 work "Kurzemīte", Imants Ziedonis, having leafed through the newspapers of the time, writes about a futurology conference where the well-known deep-sea explorer Jacques Piccard expressed concern about the pollution of air and water, and the destruction of wildlife. I. Ziedonis blamed the traffic flow of major cities for the poisoning. Fifty years later, that flow has increased, but fuel and cars have become more eco-friendly, and rivers in Western Europe are cleaner. Much has been done to improve the environment.

Europe has indeed done a lot to prevent water pollution, which cannot be said for Asian countries. Now there are attempts to limit the use of plastic. Let us remember the problem of the ozone hole. Through international agreement, it was managed relatively successfully by replacing harmful freon, which contributed to the depletion of the atmospheric ozone layer, with less harmful substances.

It is a comforting fact that environmental problems can be solved, including the current one of how to replace the energy system with an emissions-free system. The problem is that it is a much more expensive and extensive programme than the things achieved previously.