Our planet may be heading to a point of no return. Scientists predict that a domino effect of damage is on the horizon without intervention, including “hothouse” level warming. Climate change is likely to worsen, especially with relaxed emissions regulations, which will lead to irreparable harm to the ecosystem and human health.

What’s ‘hothouse’ warming?
Earth’s climate is “departing from the stable conditions that supported human civilization for millennia” and barreling toward several tipping points that could “commit the planet to a hothouse trajectory,” said an analysis published in the journal One Earth. “Most tipping interactions are destabilizing in nature,” and if “one element tips, it can trigger a cascade effect, pushing other systems past their thresholds.” The shift could “raise global temperatures, accelerate sea-level rise, release vast stores of carbon and destabilize ecosystems.”

In the hothouse trajectory, global temperature “stays significantly above the 4°C rise of current worst-case climate scenarios for thousands of years, driving a huge rise in sea level that drowns coastal cities,” said The Guardian. Unfortunately, progress toward this is “advancing faster than many scientists predicted,” said Christopher Wolf, a scientist at Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Associates and one of the authors of the analysis, to the outlet. “Policymakers and the public remain largely unaware of the risks posed by what would effectively be a point-of-no-return transition.”

What does the future hold?
Despite the warning, uncertainty remains. Scientists “do not yet know the exact thresholds for many tipping elements” or how “quickly tipping cascades might unfold,” said the analysis. Regardless, we “may be approaching a perilous threshold, with rapidly dwindling opportunities to prevent dangerous and unmanageable climate outcomes.” 

The risks are higher as the Trump administration is working to roll back caps on carbon dioxide emissions. The added pollution could lead to “as many as 58,000 premature deaths and an increase of 37 million asthma attacks between now and 2055,” said The New York Times.

Time is of the essence now as the “boulder is going off over the edge of the cliff,” said Jillian Gregg, a study co-author and the CEO of Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Associates, to KLCC. “We are on this trajectory, and we don’t have recourse in how to get back.”

Immortality may seem like the preserve of Greek myth, science fiction and the Silicon Valley elite, but an obsession with living forever appears to be affecting ordinary people, too. Longevity fixation syndrome (LFS) is being flagged by some health professionals as a new mental health disorder characterized by an obsession with extending the biological clock and staving off not only the signs of age but death itself. 

‘Obsessive self-surveillance’ 
People with LFS may “obsessively” monitor their sleep patterns, bowel movements and blood-sugar levels, follow intense exercise routines, strict diets and “supplement protocols,” and embrace “controversial therapies,” said The Mirror. What starts as “self‑care becomes obsessive self‑surveillance,” Jan Gerber, the CEO of Zurich mental health clinic Paracelsus Recovery, said to the outlet. We are starting to see a “growing number” of people whose lives are “dominated by the fear of aging and decline.” 

Although LFS has yet to appear in official diagnostic manuals, Gerber compares it to orthorexia, an eating disorder characterized by an obsession with healthy food. And like many other addictions, it can affect the sufferer’s career and personal relationships. Ironically, the “stress generated by this mindset can be so intense that it actively shortens lifespan, rather than extending it,” said The Mirror. 

Struggle to ‘accept mortality’ 
The most public face of the crusade against aging is 48-year-old American venture capitalist Bryan Johnson. He has vowed to “achieve immortality” and make his “Don’t Die” movement the “most influential ideology in the world by 2027.” 

Public interest is clearly growing, with global Google searches for “longevity” tripling over the course of 2025. At last month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, longevity tech was the “hype vertical du jour,” said the Financial Times. Items on display included a $899 “longevity mirror” that tells how well the person reflected is aging. 

This obsession with extending lifespan “reveals a self-centred society” in which people struggle to “accept mortality,” said the Times. It’s also a new buzzword for shifting products. We would probably do well to face the fact that when we die is “not something we can control” and “realize that life is too important to waste it trying to live forever.”

Pedestrians walk past a residential building heavily damaged after a Russian air attack in Odesa, Ukraine. Peace talks between Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. ended yesterday without a breakthrough, as an agreement on the issue of territory remains elusive.
Oleksandr Gimanov / AFP / Getty Images

Inclusivity matters. More cities and countries are passing laws and implementing changes so their infrastructure and transportation options are accessible for all. These updates are opening up the world for travelers with disabilities. These destinations are ahead of the accessibility curve.

Cape Town
The Limitless Cape Town campaign is changing the way people visit the city. This program aims to give visitors equal access, starting with the installation of citywide braille touch points and an easy-to-use wheelchair-friendly bus system, said AAA Trip Canvas. Winston Fani, the first certified blind tour guide in Africa, is “redefining how people discover and connect with Cape Town,” said Cape Town Tourism, leading visitors to the best street art, shops, restaurants and wine farms. He’s also working on putting together sensory-led tours.

Las Vegas
There’s no need to try your luck in Las Vegas. This is one of the “most disabled-friendly and wheelchair-accessible” cities in the U.S., said John Morris at WheelchairTravel.org. It’s “filled to the brim with accessible things to do.” The city is home to many mega resorts, so there’s a “mind-boggling” number of wheelchair-accessible rooms, plus accessible transportation like city buses, taxis and the Las Vegas Monorail.

Sydney
In Sydney (pictured above), public transportation is wheelchair-accessible, and many of the city’s most popular venues and attractions are equally accommodating. Ferries are a great way to get around Sydney while soaking up gorgeous views of the harbor. And when you are on land, there are miles of accessible paths connecting the area’s landmarks.