It really IS the end of the world….

And the winner is…….

“Are we living in the last century of our civilization? Is it possible that all of our technology, knowledge and wealth cannot save us from ourselves? Could our society actually be heading towards collapse?

-From the press release for ABC News Earth 2100

Well, this looks like pretty dramatic stuff.

And important.

The collapse of civilization – now that’s a very very big story.

So it was with a certain degree of respect that I read that ABC News was actually gearing up to tackle some very fundamental questions facing the world – pollution, global warming, overpoplation, depletion of natural resources.

That respect was short-lived.

How are they going to deal with this looming crisis?

Well, first they’re going to interview some of the top scientists in the world

This September, in Earth 2100, a dramatic ABC News 2-hour broadcast, the greatest minds across the globe will join together in a countdown to the year 2100 to tell us what we must do to survive the next century … And what may happen if we don’t.

The greatest minds across the globe… so far, so good…

And then… guess what?

In an unprecedented Internet event, ABC is inviting people from around the world to bring the future to life.

Unprecedented Internet event! (we need something interactive here, people)…ABC News is inviting ‘you, the public’ to ‘join in’.

And how exactly are you being invited to ‘join in’ in this ‘unprecedented’ way?

ABC News has created something called (and I am not making this up), Earth 2100: THE GAME

That’s right. Let me repeat that again, because I don’t want you to miss this:

ABC News has responded to the global crisis by creating something called Earth 2100: The Game

And they’re inviting you to ‘play along’ by creating your own home videos of what you think the end of the world is going to look like, and send ‘em in!

(Me, I’m going to set my kitchen on fire to imitate global warming)

I think it really is the end of the world. But ABC News is, unfortunately, not alone.

In this month’s issue of Departures, the glossy American Express magazine, there is a full page black and white photo of Philippe and Alexandra Cousteau (grandchildren of the famous Jacques Cousteau, underwater explorer). Says grandson Philippe, (and this is a direct quote):

Philippe Cousteau Jr., 28, chief ocean correspondent for Animal Planet, is the vision behind OCEAN, a BBC-Discovery series that will investigate the condition of major bodies of water. “You have to get the message out in a fun, sexy way”, he says, “it can’t be all doom and gloom”.

The article goes on to tell us that:

Philippe wears a Calvin Klein Collection neoprene mesh suit ($1,495) and shoes ($375), dior Homme shirt ($470), and Kobold Large Soarway Diver watch ($3,650)>

Death of the oceans? Well, that sounds fun and sexy… kind of….

And as for clothing, if I recall correctly, grandpa Jacques used to wear a weatherbeaten red and white striped t-shirt ($4) and an old beret ($2.95). But then again, it wasn’t the end of the world…..