|
Fallen Angels Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Michael Flynn 978-0743471817 |
I nearly forgot about fictions. For so long, my reading queue has been exclusive non-fictions. Anything else got de-prioritized. Kid left this book for me after her visit and it popped to the top of my queue recently.
How delightful: Niven, SciFi, fictional world. I became envious of Kid’s 165-book reading year.
When Kid was in college, she described how Earth can turn into an ice ball. It was rather simple. Geothermal energy is not enough to keep Earth warm. If Earth reflect more sun energy than it absorbs, it get cooler. Once the polar ice sheet grows to a certain size, the entire ecological system turn into a positive feedback loop: the more ice, the more reflection, more heat loss, more ice. In time shorter than a lifetime, the whole Earth will get permanently stuck in deep freeze.
And Niven depicted how it would like. He (they) has the talent to make science personal.
The story began in the era that environmental and religious extremists have taken over the US government the 1984 Big Brother style, only they are in general against all forms of technology. Right before they seized power, a group of people escaped to the space and been living in orbit. Several decades later, two space dwellers came down to Earth accidentally, hence the title.
The authors were critical to irrational thinkers, hypocritical rules, and, of course, bureaucratic and corrupted governmental agencies. Against a group who were against animal furs, they argued that leather should be hated equally and suggested protesters to throw fake bloods toward bikers who wore leather jackets, in addition to rich women who wore furs.
At the time of their writing, Exxon Valdez spill was the worst in history. Yet most media have moved on and forgot about it a year later. I wonder how long would people remember this summer’s BP spill.
Which is the less evil: global warming or ice age? A very warm Earth will flood many beach properties but the ice age will also render many areas not habitable. If we tinker the climate and make a mistake, this Earth will likely to become one or the other. Choose.