...And We Will Have Snow

Prologue and Prelude

Prologue

The north wind will blow

And we will have snow,

And what will the robin do then, poor thing.

He'll sit in a barn

To keep himself warm,

And hide his head under his wing.

(anonymous)

Global warming, global cooling, what if all the predictions are right?

Or worse, what if all the predictions are wrong?

Historically, geologically, ice ages are cyclic: we are nearing the peak of ten thousand years of warming, and can expect ten thousand years of cooling to follow. But these are long term effects, and shorter variations, mini-cycles, abound in the climate record.

Can humankind truly claim any degree of cause over, of responsibility for, such changes? Can humans truly hope even to understand the complexities attendant on these changes, never mind explain their relationships and predict their effects?

We cannot know. What we can know, however, is that humans by nature seek explanations, and will try to explain what they don't understand. Humans are also given to acting as though their explanations are correct, and suffering through the unforeseen consequences.

What follows is a speculation about what might be achieved if a devoted team of talented researchers undertook a humanitarian effort to find a way to mitigate the effects on human welfare of climate catastrophes, or indeed catastrophes of any sort that affect large populations. It is a hopeful look at what the results of such an effort could be, even, or perhaps especially, in the absence of useful predictions about what the nature of such catastrophes might be.

For those who have read the earlier books in this series, be assured that the Culver family is very much involved. For those who have not read those earlier books and are not acquainted with Dema Culver and her story, be assured that references to earlier adventures made in this book are not critical to appreciation of what is to come. The family will grow on you.

Prelude

A white bear trudges south through heavy snow. It is slow going, but faster than swimming. He walks alone in the mountains, far from others of his kind. He hopes to find his family where the snow ends. He doesn't know how far that will be. He knows only that he must keep going until he gets there.