Global disaster

Congressman Langstrom looked out the window of his Oklahoma home. The arid dry land that could be seen for miles was covered in tumble weeds. He took a drink from his water bottle with the filter on top to make doubly sure that no contaminates such as micro dust particles were consumed. The water tasted like a hospital surgical ward he thought. He could remember back in 2025 when water had a certain quality that was pleasing, now anything you drink has to be filtered and rigorously tested to make sure you don’t get sick. He hit the button on the window shield that put the thermal blinds back into place. He could only look at the landscape from the non sun side of his house. If he looked out from the other side of his house, even through the filtered windows, he would likely suffer from retina burns. Now in 2051, the prophecies of so called global destruction had taken place, but not in the way anyone could have imagined. It looks like the people from the ancient world knew what they were talking about. The problems is that what many thought was the cure to so called global climate change, was actually the thing that brought our world to a grinding halt! Now no one is completely sure how to fix it?

   The global green energy movement took control. Like a tidal wave of empathy, one national government after another in the western world fell under the control of the global ideological movement. Fossil fuels were killing the planet, despite the fact that scientist in the energy industry had found ways to create alternative fuels that produces zero carbon emissions. Fuels derived from plant decomposing biomass, Hydrogen Carbon Dioxide recombinant fuel created by Molecular chemist which had no carbon foot print. The green energy revolution was in full swing. Oil production facilities were closed down and the use of fossil fuels in the Americas, Canada, and Western Europe was brought to a virtual standstill. Wind and Solar power had become the hallmark of a advanced western civilized 21 century nation. So with great fanfare and massive vocal support from the youngest among the nations, they were swept into power and nations that had once been filled with smoke stacks billowing out greenhouse gases were now filled with quietly turning wind turbines by the tens of thousands and acres upon acres of solar collection stations. Little did they know what was in store!

   The first anybody took notice of what was happening was in the year 2039, at that time Congressman Langstrom was an assistant U.S. Attorney working out of Oklahoma. At the time before he ran for congress, he was tasked with prosecuting cases where big corporations broke environmental law. It was only natural that he ran for office on the green ticket and became a congressman. Some scientist were wary of the advance on total reliance on wind turbines and solar power. Despite the initial results of the negative effect that the electromagnetic resonance of large groupings of wind turbines would produce and concerns of ultra violet radiation reflected off back into the atmosphere by massive solar farms, the programs continued forward. Now as a result, the catastrophe had taken hold and now the earth was gripped by unpredictable weather the likes that had not been seen since the supposed great flood or the last ice age. All thanks to the overzealousness of people like Congressman Langstrom and the environmentalist parties that took control and redrew the landscape of the world to fit their narrative without stopping to see the warning signs of things to come.

   On board the international space station, Dr. Elaine Herbert-Keiser was conducting atmospheric observations using an array of satellites that had been in orbit in 2045 when the earth began to experience geomagnetic disturbances on a global scale. The satellite networks had once belonged to the various militaries of the world, but now through a cooperative agreement between nations, they had been turned over to scientist at NASA, The European Space agency, and the United Nations for joint research. With holes in the ozone, geo displacement of the earths magnetic fields, there was no longer much worry about borders or political posturing, not when your planet was on the verge of annihilation . Dr. Herbert-Keiser was a prominent Meteorologist and Physicist who had been in the space program when the first disaster hit. She was now in space for an indeterminate amount of time given the fact that it wasn’t known when the proper atmospheric window would open for a relief crew to be launched to take over. In the mean time, she continued with her studies, trying to determine when and if the Ozone would stabilize and how long the magnetic poles would be in flux. The resulting destabilization of the earths magnetic field by the cluster of magnetic resonance fields cause by massive overuse of wind turbines had caused the earths field to shift. Animals could no longer navigate, magnetic compasses didn’t work. Whole species had been brought to near extinction because of the lack of a stable magnetic field. Weather patterns were erratic causing massive droughts, snow storms and oceanic tidal events that made it impossible to live on a costal area. Both polar regions were now exposed and the natural ice sheets had eroded dumping massive amounts of cold water into the oceans shifting ocean current and changing flow patterns, making some places too hot and others to cold, creating massive hurricanes outside of the normal seasonal time frame. Now the world could only look on and watch as nature took its revenge.

   Congressman Langstrom was in his home office when he received a call via computer landline. Since the solar arrays had sent concentrated focused radiation back into the atmosphere and burned away some of the earths Ozone, satellite communications and wireless phones were frequently disrupted and spotty at best. As the earth rotated, thin layers of Ozone would allow too much magnetic radiation from the sun to penetrate the atmosphere disrupting signals or completely frying electronics, despite the fact that many systems were built with rugged technology that was supposed to be resistant to elector magnetic interference, the concentrations were so great when they came through that it was like being in the path of some kind of science fiction weapon, so business was conducted via hard line cables and any communications with orbiting satellites to the international space station had to be routed through a network that was out of the direct path of the sun and could be beamed down to the dark side of the earth then routed through underground cables. It was quiet annoying but necessary if work was going to get done and the earth was going to be saved. Now the congressman was about to video conference with scientist from NASA, the United Nations and members of the same fossil fuel industry that was once vilified by the green movement. The very persons who were once accused of destroying the earth, might be one of the only groups that can save it now.

   The meeting took an hour, Dr. Herbert-Keiser sent a prerecorded video report on her findings regarding the magnetic fluctuations of the planets field and the holes in the Ozone caused by thinning from intense radiation. There was a great deal of posturing, even though everyone knew that they needed to be on the same page. Members of the oil and gas industry from the Americas, to Russia to several Middle Eastern nations were all in agreement with a proposed plan. The only question was could they produce enough exotic gas derived from petrochemicals and how would it be used. The how to use it part wasn’t in their wheel house, only the could they produce enough. Given the fact that electrical grids in many nations were now toast and only localize power production could be engaged, there were questions on how long it would take to manufacture the amount of material needed. How best to use it still had to be ironed out by members of various governments, but something needed to be done soon, or there might not be a planted left to live on. After the catastrophe, the wind turbines had been shut down and the solar farms abandoned, but the damage was done. Now all people could do is wait, freezing, sweating starving masses of people reduced from a population high of 8 billion down to a mere 2.2 billon. People waiting and hoping that engineers and scientist could provide an answer.

   Congressman Langstrom spent most of the rest of his day in virtual committee meetings with both members of the U.S. Government and the United Nations. The logistical details of a plan to restore the earths Ozone were still being hammered out. He had recorded a message to be sent to Dr. Herbert-Keiser on the international space station. It was 1 am in Oklahoma when he finished the response to her report that he had been directed to give on behalf of his congressional committee. He was tired and knew that she wouldn’t get the message for at least a few hours. So with the wind howling outside of his home like some morbid lost soul, he opened the door to his office that lead out onto an enclosed patio. He looked into the void of darkness trying to find some semblance of normality. All he could see were a few distance lights of houses that had independent electrical systems such as he had. Beyond that, a vast wasteland of nothingness. He shivered at the thought that it might never get better and went back inside to get some sleep. He knew that there was still a lot of heavy lifting to do before all of the hurdles could be overcome and saving the earth could truly begin.

   As the international space station made its elliptical orbit around the earth, several messages were being sent up from ground bases on the dark side of the planet. Some were held by the satellites until the station sent a go code to let the computer on board the communications network know to send the feed to the person that was ready for it. Dr Herbert-Keiser received her batch of communications, most were from other scientist and a few from her family back on earth. Finally she got to one she had been waiting on. It was marked urgent and encrypted. She went through the various security protocols, then downloaded the message through a decoder. With reserved anticipation she began to watch the video. The congressman addressed her then began to give her the decision of the participants of several meetings that he had taken part in the day before. He told her that her report was well received and that it had born a great deal of weight in influencing the decisions of both the U.S. Government and the United Nations. He said that while all of the particulars were not finalized, that the research her and the rest of the scientist had been doing all of these months had finally broken the most resistant members down and that a plan was in motion to use exotic gases as a restorative measure to fix the planets Ozone. With almost a child like elation, the Doctor let out a deep sigh. She didn’t know if this would solve the entire problem, but she was relieved that perhaps past all of the politics, the arguing and posturing that finally planet earth would have a chance and human kind would finally figure out a way to live in balance with the planet and one another. All she knew is that now hope existed, but that there was still a lot of work to do.