Can Climate Change Increase the Incidences of Flesh-Eating Bacterial Infection?
Scientists say yes, it can, and in fact, it’s happening right now.
Scientists say yes, it can, and in fact, it’s happening right now.
My series, The Rise of Oceania, takes place in the 2130s as people are settling and working the ocean floors. On the surface, countries are dealing with rapid climate change, including drought, famine, rising waters, flooding, interrupted shipping, refugee crises, wars, and dictatorships. Nations have decided to expand their reach to the oceans to extract valuable and much-needed resources like fish, crops (kelp), and minerals. This colonization has triggered a cold war, full of espionage, spycraft, and outright fighting. It is a rich and exciting setting for me to write my TechnoThrillers. But what type of minerals do the oceans offer us? Where are they located, and what are their values? Could their locations and existence really cause global conflict? And shouldn’t we be looking to outer space, the Moon, asteroids, and comets instead?
Photo Credit: London Free Press 2020
by Timothy S. Johnston
The title is a little misleading. After all, very few scientists deny that it’s happening. In the past decade we’ve experienced the ten warmest years since 1850. I want to be 100% clear about the purpose of this article right from the outset: Human beings have accelerated climate change. The rate of temperature increase is astonishing and utterly unique in the paleoclimatology record. There’s no doubt at all. Even from a passive observer’s opinion, the winters are vastly warmer than several decades ago. Things have indeed changed, and my point is that you don’t have to be a scientist to see that it’s happening/happened.
(Note: I watched the events involving the submersible Titan in the Atlantic closely over the past week. It was a tragic and yet avoidable disaster. James Cameron, on CNN, spoke about how similar it was to the Titanic sinking in 1912. He couldn’t have been more correct. Despite warnings, the captain pressed on to the inevitable end. I am saddened by the loss of five lives and it is a sign to explorers everywhere that the ocean is merciless. Pressure is inexorable. Engineering needs to be perfect to descend to depth, and if problems appear, there is often very little time (or none at all) to solve problems on the spot. Since I began writing The Rise of Oceania, events have tended to mirror my predictions. The increasing tensions with China, for example, the growing climate crisis on the surface, and more. I wrote the below article only days before Titan went silent. I’ve added this note to acknowledge the dangers and the loss of life last Sunday. — TSJ, 26 June 2023)
Check out my new article at Bookfare. Shelley, who runs the blog, asked if I’d like to contribute a post about the topic “But What Are They Eating?” since the setting in my current series is so unique.
John Carpenter is my favorite director.
I think that’s pretty obvious if you’re familiar with my blog, Life After Gateway. My post “The Greatest Trifectas in Film History” made it clear that I believe him to be a visionary director whose massive appeal in the SF genre is on par with Cameron, Spielberg, and Abrams.
This is an argument that has cavitated through every holiday season since 1988. I am hoping to put it to rest here, although obviously I realize there are always those out there who will continue to hold out and deny reality.
The magazine devoted to writers of thrillers, The Big Thrill, featured The Savage Deeps and yours truly back in January. In case you missed it, here is the article, written by David Healey. Enjoy!
“While the futuristic vision of the resources-challenged world is one thing, the action and adventure is another. Fans of submarine movies and fiction will enjoy the highly atmospheric tension and sheer claustrophobia of operating at great depths in what are essentially ocean-going spaceships.”
Last week, CTV News ran an article about me and my love for the Science Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense genres and how they inspire me to write.