Physical and/or environmental threats (Acid rain, Pirate raids, etc)

There seems to be a noticeable lack of physical or environmental threats, given the narrative of a "global catastrophe." SO2 emissions causing acid rain seems like an obvious one since coal power is such a large part of the game. The pirates also seem surprisingly docile. Even if the mechanics of raids on the island are beyond the intended scope or genre, surely they would patrol the seas and might randomly encounter the exploration vessel. There just seems to be a lack of pressure to advance beyond oil and coal tech and I'm not sure that's ideal from a game development perspective.