[LNH2/ACRA] LNH Asia: The Week After Next #3 (of 4)

[martinphipps2 at yahoo.com]

The future.  2035.

  "Earthquakes in East Asia, South East Asia and Califor.net.a.  Now
the eruption of the Toba Calde.racc volcano in Indo.net.sia.  What does
it all mean?"
  "Well," the NNN science correspondent explained, "the fact is that
J at pan, Tai1, the Philippi.net, Indo.net.sia, the Lan.dies,
Califor.net.a, Alt.laska, they're all part of the Pacific Ring of
fire."
  "Can you explain to our viewers what you mean by 'ring of fire'?"
  "Sure, Jim.  We can see on the map here: the volcanoes all around the
Pacific Rim are the result of the Asian tectonic plates on one side and
the American tectonic plates on the other both pressing against the
Pacific plate."
  "What exactly causes this pressure?"
  "Gravity."
  "Could you elaborate for those at home?"
  "Imagine Looniearth were made of liquid.  Then gravity would force
Looniearth into the shape of a perfect sphere, more or less.  But the
surface of Looniearth is not a liquid: Looniearth has a solid crust.
Gravity tries to force the mountains down.  More importantly, gravity
is trying to move the continents to fill in the Pacific Ocean."
  "So this all has to do with continental drift?"
  "Exactly.  Billions of years ago, Looniearth only had one continent,
what we now call Pangea.  Then Pangea broke up forming the Ame.rec.as
and Europe, Asia and Af.rec.a."
  "It just broke up?"
  The NNN science correspondent nodded.  "Like I said, the continents
are moving under the force of gravity: having a single continent on one
side of Looniearth and a huge ocean on the other was gravitationally
unstable.  The forces pulling Pangea apart were huge."
  "When will it end?"
  "Not in our lifetimes.  The continents won't stop moving until the
Ame.rec.as are on the opposite side to the rest of the world and the
Alt.lan.tic is as big as the Pacific."

       LNH Asia: The Week After Next #3 (of 4)

TaipA:, Tai1.

  "You need to put a stop to this!" Intuition Girl told Deja Dude II.
  "I can't," he told her.  "I'm not God."
  "You might as well be.  I thought you could travel back in time.  Why
can't you just travel back to a time before all this happened and
prevent it from ever happening."
  "Because I can't.  I already told you.  My powers don't work that
way: I can't change what's already happened.  Besides, even if I could
travel back in time, what am I supposed to do?  Could I have prevented
the earthquakes, the tsunamis, the volcanic eruption?"

  "What is this I keep hearing about global cooling?  Can you explain
for our viewers what that means?"
  The NNN science correspondent nodded.  "The ash from the Toba
Calde.racc volcano is filling the atmosphere.  At the rate at which the
volcano is spewing ash the sun will be blocked out within a few days
and that could last for weeks, even months.  That will kill off over
90% of Looniearth's vegetation resulting in massive starvation.  Worse,
blocking off the sun, even for a few days, would cause the temperature
of Looniearth's surface to cool.  As Ice formed on the continents, even
more of the heat from the sun would be reflected back into space.
Looniearth's temperature would stablize at a lower temperature.  This
is global cooling.  In effect, we're talking about the dawn of a new
Ice Age."
  "My God.  What can we do?"
  "Nothing.  There's nothing we can do."

  "There's one thing I can do," Deja Dude II said.
  "What?" Intuition Girl asked.
  Deja Dude II didn't answer.  He left the Looniverse and travelled
onto the newsgroups plane.
  The newsgroups plane is a reality between the Looniverse and our own
in which the Looniverse is clearly distinguishable as one of many
universes existing on the newsgroup rec.arts.comics.creative.  Here,
all the newsgroups are visable at a glance.  It is here that Deja Dude
II came to contact the one person who can help him.
  "Eddy Tony Al.  You came."
  Eddy Tony Al Presence had sensed Deja Dude II's presence in the
newsgroups plane and guessed why he had come.  "I can't help you."
  "Why not?"
  "I can't make everything all right again.  I can't erase the loss of
life: I can't bring back all those people."
  "I'm not asking you to."
  "Then what are you asking?"
  "I want it to stop."
  "Just like that?  I'm afraid that's not possible.  This is issue #3.
Of 4.  We can't just make things stop as you say.  We have to see
things to the end."
  "If we can't make things the way they were and we can't just make it
stop then maybe we can fix things, at least enough to make things
better.  Prevent this from becoming a world-wide catastrophe!"
  "Ah!" Eddy Tony Al said.  "Now, that is something we might be able to
do.  And we have one issue left in which to do it!"
  "I hope it is enough!"

TO BE CONCLUDED!

Martin