We asked friends of DeSmogBlog to write a letter to their great, great grandchildren about their vision and hopes for their world in 100 years, in the context of global warming. Will we all be underwater? In outer space?

Over time, we’ll be adding more letters to this list. The best letters every month will receive a sweet DeSmog swag bag, including the much-coveted DeSmog t-shirt.

And for the best-of-the-best, we’ll send you a $100 gift card to the Future Shop (or the equivalent for those who don’t have a Future Shop where the live).

Here’s what they wrote:

Bloggers 

David Sassoon, blogger: “Greetings from Brooklyn, New York just after the turn of the 21st century. It’s December of 2007 to be precise, and we’re suffering through the last year-and-change of the worst presidency in American history.” Read the whole letter here.

Adam Seigel, blogger: “Dear Great-Great Grandchild, with each passing day, I realize just how much I’ve stolen from the heritage that we should have left behind for you. The magnificent collection of biological materials in fossil fuels that we, I know it is crazy, burned up to pollute rather than to husband these rich resources for making into products that, well, I can’t even begin to imagine.” Read the whole letter.

Shannon Moore, blogger: “My Dearest Descendants, Most of all I want to tell you I am sorry for how short-sighted we were. I thought I was doing all that I could to leave a good world for you to inherit, but it turns out I could have done more.” Read the whole letter.

Kevin Grandia, DeSmogBlog Manager: “Its great-great gramps, coming to you from beyond the grave (scary music). Life wasn’t much different for me than what I think your lives are like now 100 years later, other than the fact that in your world there is a realization…” Read the whole letter.

Readers

David Kirk Gwozdz, DeSmogBlog reader: “The date is December 5th, 2007 and I am living in Toledo, Ohio. I am only 22 years old but even I have noticed that our weather is a little off in our time period compared to the past, so i can only imagine what it is like 100+ years from now.” Read the whole letter.

Noreen Tsai, DeSmogBlog reader: “Dear future sons and daughters of Noreen. Are the polar bears extinct yet? How much of the Artic is left in existence? Is Santa Clause still a part of your culture, and if he is, where does he live? Does he still live in the South Pole? IS there a south pole?” Read the whole letter.

Artists

John Cooksey, Filmmaker: “It was a tough haul. There were many times when I despaired. Many times we hoped for a savior to come and take away our personal responsibility to act, but we got despots just as often as we got heroes. Maybe it was a challenge we needed, to show us that we had to take care of ourselves, and each other.” Read the whole letter.

Pete McCormack, Author: “It was pretty good for a while, actually. We were still pretty cocky around the turn of the century, maybe up to about 2010. Sure, there were some brutal wars over this thing you’ve probably never heard of—called oil—and these wars killed hundreds of thousands of people who were rarely shown on TV.” Read the whole letter. 

Akaash Maharaj, author and blogger: “Dear Great Great Grandchild, in composing this letter to you, I am not sure what I find less likely: that I will have descendants a century hence, or that they will be remotely interested in anything I have to write. Still, one lives in hope! Personally, I can not imagine my own great great grandfather as anything other than a grey-beard loon peering out from frayed and sepia-tinted photographs…” Read the whole letter.

Ross Gelbspan, Author: “My fondest hope is that you are living in a very different world (even with fewer people, fewer species and more difficult conditions). I hope you are living in an age in which memories extend beyond individual lifetimes, in which history seems a promise rather than a nightmare and in which the greatest of all satisfactions comes from caring for other people.” Read the whole letter.

Everybody Else  

Simon Donner, Climate Scientist: “I thought of you, the future Donners. Are you still shoveling snow off the lake and playing hockey at the cottage? Do you have to wait an extra month for the lake to freeze? Or does the lake not freeze at all?” Read the whole letter.

Danielle Brigida, National Wildlife Federation: “Greetings future offspring of my offspring’s offspring, I write to you from a time of hope and some fear. My childhood was one filled with hikes or ‘explores’ with my father.” Read the whole letter here. 

Racheblue, artist, designer & writer: “Dearest Children of the Future, this is your Great… Granny Racheblue writing to let you know what life was like back here towards the start of the 21st Century and to wish you all the best for your future. I trust that the decisions we made and the actions we took have helped provide you with a happy, safe life…” Read the whole letter.

Ade Thomas, Green.TV:”I hope you’re able to use some fantastic technologies which don’t damage the planet and which enable you to make friends around the world and to keep in touch with my other great, great grandchildren.” Read the whole letter.