Last Tuesday, ABC televised a two-hour special called “Earth 2100.”

Disappointingly, it was not an action-packed made for TV movie featuring Vin Diesel, nor was it a look at how similar to “The Jetsons” our society will look at the dawn of the new century.

Instead, the Bob Woodruff-hosted program posed the warm and fuzzy question, “Is this the final century of our civilization?” and centered around the potentially cataclysmic results of overpopulation, the scarcity of resources, climate change and other miserable coming attractions.

It was an uplifting experience.

The show’s narrative followed a fictional woman named Lucy through her lifespan, showing the hurdles she and her loved ones faced between 2009 and 2100. In addition to the list above, we saw the effects of a global pandemic, mass emigration and civil unrest.

And sadly, if world events play out like the program suggests, the clock is already ticking.

For example, in only about 20 years, according to “Earth 2100,” Tucson will become the first major U.S. city to run out of water.

This prediction brought to the forefront some obvious questions (“Since when did Tucson have water?” for one), but it also brought the fear mongering home, which immediately took my mindset from a mindless, summer-induced “OK, this is moderately interesting programming that could partially be true” to a cynical “Why should I believe a word that’s being said?”

So, what should we take from this blood pressure-raising, two-hour special?

Very little, actually.

Though many “experts” are referenced, it is important to remember that “experts” also said Iraq had WMDs and Dewey defeated Truman. Nobody knows what’s going to happen next. If they did, we would have a deity on our hands.

Furthermore, while it is against my moral fiber to attack the network that brings me “Lost,” it is prudent to remember that, within this decade, ABC has thought shows like Jason Alexander’s “Bob Patterson” and reality TV embarrassment “Are You Hot?” showed some promise. In other words, anything seen on their airwaves should be taken with a grain of salt.

However, there is some good to come out of the network’s special. If there’s anything to be drawn from “Earth 2100,” it’s a reminder that the list of things to be worried about is long and treacherous — and that the list does not include current media fixations like Jon and Kate, their eight or Susan Boyle.

From management of natural resources and growing the global economy to taking care of the environment and fighting hunger, and from religious tolerance and forward thinking to education spending and fixing Social Security, there are in fact many issues that often evade the public eye that can be worked on now to assure stability through the course of the unfolding century.

It was good of “Earth 2100” to refocus its viewers and put Americans’ minds back on track, even at the cost of falling victim to sensationalist programming.

So, thank you, ABC, for scaring the hell out of your viewers. Though, maybe next time if you want to scare everyone, it would be better for everyone involved to re-air old episodes of the Geico ad-inspired series, “Cavemen.”

Ben is accepting any
and all Tucson jokes at
bberkley@asu.edu