The prehistoric sky is pale blue, and it is cold enough to make frost form almost instantly around the nose and beak of the Pteranodon who has just awakened in a treeless land of ice beyond the reach of the sun. The climate at the North and South Poles is changing, leading to a puzzling consequence that mankind is unable to control or defeat. As the Pteranodon cranes its long neck and surveys the frigid, unending miles of white in search for food, others prepare to escape the ice prison that has held them in a frozen state for sixty-five million years. Now, in the seemingly endless night, they are alive again-the result of global warming. No one is more aware of the escalating environmental catastrophe than Professor Edgar Hauptman. As he wonders whether time is running out, Hauptman writes a controversial essay that reaches the desk of the President, causing immediate chaos as everyone wonders if mankind is doomed. In a desperate attempt to cool the earth, Hauptman leads an ambitious mission to the ocean floor. Success means new life, but failure means death of the world as they know it. Can he save the planet in time?

Future Imaginings

We May Someday Live in Unimaginable TimesBy Howard Paul Feigelman

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 Howard Paul Feigelman
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-4063-6

Contents

Part One Prehistoric Sky.........................1Part Two Accidental Survival.....................67

Chapter One

Prehistoric Sky

The sky was a pale blue and the temperature was -20 degrees Fahrenheit (-29 degrees Celsius). It was cold enough to make frost form almost instantly around the nose and beak of Pteranodon, a condition it was not accustomed to. It had awakened in a land of ice, a land that was beyond the sun. A human being would be forced to gasp for air in the cold and would likely keep gasping until he or she passed out, but the cold air had little effect on Pteranodon. Only eight to ten inches of snow fell on this remote region of planet earth each year, but it would never melt. The snow would drift, covering anything that might be peeking out above the already accumulated snow. That was the climatic situation at the North and South Poles for millions of years; however, now it was changing. The poles were warming, and that phenomenon would lead to ...

* * *

Its eyes opened as if for the first time. It surveyed the frigid, unending miles of white. There was no movement; it could not detect any life forms, only long white miles where only the lonely wind prowled. It was hungry, so instinctively it thought of food, but where it could find food at this moment remained a mystery. It craned its long neck in search; its wings felt stiff, and its body rigid. A takeoff at the moment was out of the question. Pteranodon peered out at its surroundings. The night was cold and soundless. Others were also escaping from the ice prison that had held them in a frozen state for sixty-five million years. Now, in the seemingly endless night, one fact could not be argued: they were alive ... again.

This was not a spring ice melt, nor was it a summer thaw; this time, it was much more. It was commonly thought that if a location remained cold enough throughout the years, no melting could occur. That explained why the North and South Poles were covered in ice throughout the year. Zero degrees Celsius was known to be the freezing point of fresh water (or, said another way, the melting point of ice). Sea water froze at -2 degrees Celsius. Pteranodon should have remained frozen in the glacial ice for all time, except for the fact that the poles were warming, causing extreme melting. The fact that this phenomenon was occurring was no secret to the inhabitants of planet earth. The animals knew it instinctively, the humans intellectually.

The wind persisted. For humans, the region was still too cold and dark for habitation for any substantial length of time. This was truly a harsh, forbidding location on planet earth. The wind gained in strength, knocking over Pteranodon. It attempted to gather its legs under its belly in an attempt to regain its footing. Something was moving under the thinning ice. It was a fish. Pteranodon broke through the ice with its sharp beak and caught the fish. It chewed the fish with its sharp teeth and swallowed it in pieces. Now, somewhat nourished, it would move on when the wind died down and the weather had improved. Pteranodon would rendezvous with other Pteranodons later. It realized that somehow it had survived, and instinctively it realized that this second chance meant that it must get stronger in order to overcome the struggle in front of it. Somewhere in this dark cold mysterious world, there was a second awakening, by a cousin of Pteranodon.

The Pterosaur opened its eyes and immediately realized two realities. It was very hungry, and there were no trees.

Trees were an integral part of Pterosaur's habitat. Pterosaur knew that in order to survive, it needed a green forest environment. Like Pteranodon, it had been reborn, given a second chance to live, breed, and migrate. Fortunately, its short, whisker-like hair was acting as an insulator, protecting it from the extreme cold. It looked up at the sun, unfolded its wings, and absorbed what little heat the sun was offering. Slowly, Pterosaur felt its body temperature rising. Able to maintain a high body temperature, it would soon be warm enough to fly, perhaps to a more temperate location. Although it did not really feel the extreme cold, it did not appreciate the wind and blowing snow.

Both Pterosaur and Pteranodon had been sheltered underneath the ice for a very long time. These flying crocodiles had adapted before. Both species recognized their innate drive to exist and live forever through their own survival and the survival of their hatchlings. But first they had to escape this harsh, remote place; although life is never uninvited in any location on planet earth, life seemed to be banished from some regions, or reduced to a limited existence. This was such a place, and both species realized that they must leave, and soon, or their previous fate would be repeated.

Their new life, like their extinction, was abrupt. However, their survival instincts were acute. They had come this far and would continue to make progress toward increasing their numbers. This time they would persevere. This time they were determined to live and dominate all living species on the planet. Although weakened by their ordeal, they were breaking through the melting ice in greater numbers. The North and South Poles had become unstable. Antarctica was dying. The polar bears and seals knew it. The caribou and penguins knew it. Man appeared clueless as to the impact on the planet these climatic changes would eventually bring. But Pteranodon and Pterosaur were alive and growing in numbers. And if humans did not understand that the planet was warming, these newly revived creatures did, and it was their intention to take full advantage of this second opportunity given to them to survive.

* * *

It was inevitable that my family and I would participate in the proliferation of single-family housing popping up to the north of the city. When I grew up, my mom and dad would shop in neighborhood stores. Not the Gap, Old Navy, or the Banana Republic but rather Max's Men's and Boys' Apparel Store. We ate out at Sid's luncheonette, and we bought our meat at the butcher shop, got groceries at the corner grocery store, and filled our prescriptions at the drugstore owned by the Stone family, who lived on the third floor in the five-story apartment building we lived in. Those were good times, but when I became an adult, I changed my shopping habits and began to frequent malls and shopping centers. I forgot about Max's and gravitated toward Macy's and Bloomingdale's. Eventually I succumbed to the "modern times," got married, and started a family.

Families were moving away from urban centers and heading north, south, east, and west of the city. We, like many other families, became suburbanites. I wanted to enjoy the bucolic serenity of the countryside. The idea of raising my children surrounded by a lawn and not pavement appealed to me. There also was that unspoken belief that if you owned your own home in the suburbs, you were a success. Call it elitism, insecurity, or dysfunction, it was the way things were. Suburban sprawl had arrived in the Northeast, and we were determined to become a part of it. The Windsor family were destined to become home owners and realize their dreams.

My wife, Elizabeth, quickly adapted and became a "soccer mom": a suburban euphemism. In our neighborhood, the kids walked to elementary school and were bused to junior high school and high school. We were a typical family, living out the American dream. The suburban culture quickly became our way of life, and the years we lived in the city quickly faded away. My income kept pace with inflation, allowing Elizabeth to stay at home and raise our children. Jeff, Alex, and Susan were the perfect children, Elizabeth the perfect wife. We were happy with our lives, the neighborhood, and our friends. I, Steven Windsor, was the most content man on the planet earth.

Our ideal existence was soon shattered by what seemed like innocent, coincidental events that were, at first, ignored. When attention to these events was eventually brought to the authorities, we were greeted with doubt and skepticism. When I (and others who were concerned) pushed the authorities for a serious investigation, they denounced, spurned, and unjustly criticized us. Times became scary. When I think back in retrospect, attempting to dissect the events that occurred, I can only reach one conclusion. It all began with the disappearance of Daisy, our neighbor's cat.

Daisy never left Frank and Ellie Mosley's lawn. She could be seen almost every day sunning herself on the grass, meowing at everyone that passed by. And then one day, she was gone. Ellie put up posters all over the neighborhood, offering a $500 reward. Some suspected that she was kidnapped, but why? The reward was never claimed, and Daisy was never found. Not even her remains. The entire neighborhood searched for days, to no avail. Daisy was gone forever.

* * *

For those who were not in denial, the facts were indisputable: global warming was a reality. The planet was in an ecological crisis. Life on earth was being imperiled by a combination of threatening changes that were measurable. There was a hole in the ozone layer. Unfiltered by ozone, ultraviolet light was bombarding the poles. The Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves were collapsing; glaciers were breaking apart and melting. This was raising the ocean level, while the increased exposure due to the hole in the ozone layer was decreasing the rate of photosynthesis in phytoplankton, contributing to the collapse of the Antarctic marine ecosystem. Animals and humans living in the region were having difficulty finding food. As the oceans rose, the coastlines began to disappear. California lost 5,000 square miles; some Pacific and Caribbean islands lost one third of their land mass.

Scientists knew what was happening, but they were unable to raise public awareness to any respectable level. Since the general public was unaware, the politicians would not address the problem. The situation appeared to be the most critical phenomenon to threaten mankind in modern times. Those that were in power were unwilling to treat the problem with any sense of urgency. Activist groups, such as the one I was a member of, popped up throughout the world, but to no avail. Nevertheless, we all pressed forward in a loosely connected Federation of Citizens for Saving Planet Earth.

No one was more aware of the problem that existed than Professor Edgar Hauptman. He had dedicated his entire adult life to researching the phenomenon and now was attempting to raise awareness to a top level concern. He had written many books and published articles in magazines and newspapers. People were blinded by their oversized cars, gas-guzzling SUVs, and aerosol cans that they had become so accustomed to. His latest book spelled it out in large print with actual photographs and pictures of what the future would be like if something wasn't done soon.

It was not hard to understand. Ozone destruction creates surface heat. As the upper atmosphere cools, the lower atmosphere begins to warm, and the ozone decline worsens. That fact, combined with the destruction of the rain forests, which were being devastated by logging and clearing for agriculture and housing, prevented the correction of the global warming that was occurring. When rain forests are cut down, they lose their ability to mitigate the greenhouse effect. There can be no doubt. The poles were unstable. Antarctica was dying. Sea levels were rising, and temperatures worldwide were higher than they had ever been before. Edgar had completed exhaustive research and considered himself an expert on the issue. Unfortunately, few agreed about his expertise, as Professor Hauptman was not a climatologist by profession but rather a paleontologist. He wondered, if none of these events would cause public or government concern, what it would take for there to be an appropriate action by governments, and even more important, how much time did they have before it was too late to take any corrective action?

* * *

Pterosaur glided high above the land. Its wingspan was thirty-six feet, larger than a small airplane. It had found a temporary home near a lake. It contented itself with eating insects, fish, and small animals, but that was not enough to sustain it. Suddenly, Pterosaur spied some movement. It was a large mole. Swooping down, Pterosaur grabbed the unsuspecting mole in its hooklike claws, digging into its prey's flesh and killing the unfortunate animal immediately as it gained altitude. Flying back to the nest, it deposited the animal with its mate, who would promptly begin to tear it apart in order to feed the young hungry hatchlings. Reproduction had begun at an unbelievably rapid rate, and soon the sky would be filled with thousands of Pterosaurs. It was as if the species was making up for being dormant for sixty-five million years. The question was, would there be enough food for them all, as intermingled with the Pterosaur population was Pteranodon, who seemed to be reproducing at an even faster rate.

Six weeks after the hatchlings were born, they were nearly three times the size of a modern-day eagle and therefore required great amounts of food. Both Pteranodon and Pterosaurs would soar at low speeds, stalling in midair whenever they detected something on the ground. Once a prey was spotted, they would dive at a steep and fast descent, snap up the prey, and achieve a staggering height in seconds. Unless one was told in advance what was happening and was looking at the exact location at the time of the attack, the entire scene would be missed. Both creatures had great amounts of energy, because soaring used up little energy. Gliding using air currents in order to stay airborne and gather speed was the least energetic form of flying. Pteranodon stood on a large pointed rock and surveyed its surroundings. If he were capable of having intellectual thought, it would be that he was king of the planet and would soon overtake all of the living forms that had prospered during the sixty-five million years that he was dormant. He raised his long crested head and looked toward the sky. Virtually tailless, it kept its balance by stretching its wings. Some feathered birds were passing; he would catch one later when hungry, as they were plentiful. The skies were getting crowded with feathered birds and birds with hair. The instinct to fly further south was getting stronger within all of them. When the hatchlings were ready they would move on.

* * *

Although the threat to the planet's survival presented an incentive to take action, world leaders seemed unable or unwilling to make any major decisions regarding global warming. The president of the United States was no exception. President Louis Bundge worked hard to fend off his critics who were questioning his inaction. He defended his lack of concern, minimizing the claims of danger by scientific experts. He was accused of lacking a mastery of the facts, which raised significant tensions among many congressmen, senators, and cabinet members. Oblivious to the facts, President Bundge discounted the combustible situation and offered wordy speeches to the American people. This worked to a great extent, as the American public was used to burying its head in the sand when it came to global warming.

His opinion, that global warming was not a real threat, was accepted by many Americans. "There are not enough facts to prove that global warming is the result of something mankind is doing; it is just a coincidence," he claimed. "This is likely a cyclical occurrence and will eventually end not to be repeated for thousands of years. What do any of us really know? We know where we live, we know our names, and we know when we are hurting. Those are certainties!"

Global warming was not a certainty but an attempt to explain a rise in temperature that had likely occurred before. He freely sprinkled those certainties and uncertainties throughout his speeches, causing the public to doubt that global warming was in truth a reality. His arguments were convincing, and the public agreed with the president and refused to even consider Professor Hauptman's thesis, suggesting a looming planetary catastrophe. Unfortunately, there seemed to be few on the scene that had the vision to foresee the malevolent disaster that was within the realm of possibility.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Future Imaginingsby Howard Paul Feigelman Copyright © 2011 by Howard Paul Feigelman. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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