University's 800 letters for 2109

The letters have been locked away in eight boxes

Eight hundred letters to the people of the year 2109 have been stored at Cambridge University as part of its 800th anniversary celebrations.

Senior academics from around the world, staff, students and people from the city wrote letters to be stored unopened in the library for 100 years.

Each was given a certificate to pass on to future generations to allow them to open a message from their ancestor.

The messages touch on climate change, the recession and TV's X Factor.

Readers in 100 years time will find out about topics as diverse as the war in Afghanistan, iPods, or, in the case of one young correspondent, "rabbits with floppy ears".

Polar bear concern

Others took the opportunity to imagine a world they will not live to see.

"Our current targets and strategies for reducing carbon emissions are based on predictions of the likely effects on our climate by 2080," one university staff member said.

"It will be interesting to see if the reader of my letter in 2109 feels that our predictions were correct and that our efforts were sufficient and urgent enough to avoid the worst effects of catastrophic global damage."

A year seven student wrote similarly about her concerns for the environment, adding that she hoped "that there would still be some polar bears left in 100 years time."

Other writers told their future readers about the crazes and fashions of early 21st-Century Britain.

"I wrote about how we are living in a time of reality TV and celebrity," said one. "People use shows like Big Brother and X Factor as a platform for fame and fortune."

Another posed the question: "Will people in 100 years time know about, or care about, Twitter and blogging? If not, what will have replaced it?"

Members of the 11th/9th Beaver Scouts from Cambridge, some of whom are as young as six, may live long enough to open their own letters a century from now.