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Postscript: The Future Determining the PresentWhile upgrading my eight-part series, The Lodging for the Rose, a strange incident happened. After five months of work, on the exact day when the revision of the second novel was complete and ready for the printers, a large part of the work was suddenly lost as the result of a catastrophic computer failure. It seemed as if a school teacher had reviewed a student's work and nodded with the comment, "that's nice dear" and then ripped the work up, saying, "I know that you can do better than that." But what could I do better? The entire series of novels had been focused on exploring the great renaissance principle, the Principle of Universal Love, and its numerous derivatives that created the foundation for modern civilization. The great principle of the second European renaissance, the Principle of the Advantage of the Other, which had shut down the Thirty Years War and gave the world the Treaty of Westphalia in the 17th Century, is one of these derivatives. This second renaissance had created a new foundation for civilization that is still the backbone of our modern world and has produced some of the greatest cultural achievements in history. Naturally, the principle that created it had its own derivative, such as the General Welfare Principle that became enshrined in the Federal Constitution of the USA, the first true nation-state republic on the planet. It became the chief keystone in its foundation. What could be more profound than these principles? The answer became obvious. It would have to be the test of these principles under the severest circumstances, their 'trial in fire' so to speak, related to the survival of civilization if not mankind as a whole. And that is where the recurring Ice Age comes into play in the novel. "The recurring Ice Age?" You might ask. "Aren't we worried about global warming?" Actually, we are already in an Ice Age. The last Ice Age began 1.8 million years ago and will likely continue for another 800,000 years. In geologic terms the current Ice Age is called the Pleistocene Epoch. It appears to have begun when the expansion of our galaxy and the rotation of its spiral arms brought our solar system, and with it the Earth, into a region of the galaxy where the Galactic Cosmic Radiation is more intense. The more intense radiation, in turn, causes increased ionization in the atmosphere resulting in increased cloud formation and dramatically lower global temperatures. Under normal Ice Age conditions glaciation covers 30% of the land area of the Earth in addition to large areas being subjected to permafrost and tundra-type conditions. That has been the state of the world during much of the Pleistocene Epoch. However, the long Pleistocene deep-freeze has been periodically interrupted with a few interglacial warm periods, like the one we are presently living in. Unfortunately, according to historic observations of these cycles, our present warm interlude-period is coming to an end. Its end comes inevitably, and like the ending of a wonderful holiday, one would rather not think about it while the pleasant days last. Perhaps that why our present warm period is called the Holocene period. For mankind, the Holocene period has been a wonderful holiday indeed, in which nearly the entire development of civilization took place. Now we need to prepare ourselves for the normal climate of the Earth, the Ice Age climate, as we get back into the deep freeze of the Pleistocene world. The periodic cycles of exceptional warm periods appear to be caused by solar cycles of exceptional intensity. According to discovered evidence seven of these exceptional warm periods have occurred during the last 700,000 years. The are believed to have approximately ten thousand years in duration, spaced roughly 100,000 years apart, covering slightly less than 8% of the respective timeframe. Thus the Earth will be reverting back to its cold climate, the climate that has been the state of the world for 92% of the Pleistocene Epoch to date. || - page index - || - chapter index - || - Exit - ||
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