Time: Begins in the summer of 2043, on June 21, the summer solstice.
Disaster trigger: An unusual solar flare, concealed from the public, coincides with unknown geological and magnetic anomalies on Earth. This causes solar radiation to penetrate the atmosphere far more efficiently, sending global average temperatures soaring in just a few weeks.
Initial effects: Extreme heat, far exceeding the upper limits of weather forecasts, with 48°C becoming normal and peaks exceeding 60°C; unprecedented drought; massive wildfires around the world; accelerated glacial melting, causing short-term and abnormal fluctuations in sea levels, followed by further complicated changes in water levels as extreme heat drives evaporation; mass die-offs of marine life; and the collapse of global power and communications networks.
Mid-stage developments: The disaster does not remain a simple case of unchanging extreme heat. As the story unfolds, its multiple phases and cascading effects will emerge, such as a nuclear-winter-like cooling period after the initial catastrophe, viral mutations, and earthquakes caused by the release of stress in the Earth’s crust.
Technology: By 2043, humanity has made significant advances in AI, bioengineering, materials science, and limited space exploration. But energy, especially clean, sustainable energy that can be deployed on a large scale, and technology for coping with extreme global climate events remain bottlenecks. After the disaster begins, technological relics from the old world, including shelters, laboratories, armories, and facilities that are still partly operational, become fiercely contested resources.
