Chapter 115 Secret Pressure Ring Theory_1

In the Arctic Circle, the temperature continued to drop, and the density of the air also increased significantly. However, the surrounding volcanic ash also formed a dense air mass. At this time, the ash circle essentially acted as a pressure ring, known for short as a density pressure ring, which firmly suppressed the cold currents of the Arctic.

The formation conditions for the pressure ring were harsh: on the inside was an extreme cold current, and on the outside was a warm wind airflow. Despite the strong convection between the cold inside and the warm outside, they found a stable balance point, forming a figure-eight-shaped double recirculation pattern, which maintained a stable form.

Under normal circumstances, such an airflow structure would never form. Meteorologists speculated that the massive amounts of volcanic ash contained a large number of insulating materials, which blocked heat conduction. The temperature difference did not cause a density difference as would typically happen with thermal expansion and contraction. Instead, it ultimately stabilized into a figure-eight-shaped recirculation pattern.

However, this was not good news. The temperature in the Arctic Circle continued to drop, and its density continued to increase, like a balloon being squeezed. Once it was compressed to a certain extent, the pressure ring would burst, unleashing the accumulated energy within the Arctic Circle, and its impact would be unprecedented.

The extreme climate of the Arctic could also cause strong cold cyclones to form from the up and down convection, yet they were locked by the pressure ring, unable to release energy, only accumulating more and more. The intense cold cyclones would continue to strengthen as long as the pressure ring did not break.

Based on the current density of the pressure ring, if it were to break, the Arctic's intense cold cyclones would need to reach a wind force level of 25 (winds surpassing 117 meters per second).

Humanity has not defined such a level of wind force. In fact, wind forces above level 18 (winds surpassing 61 meters per second) were undefined, but not anymore.

Many experts who reached this conclusion broke out in cold sweats. A level 25 intense cold cyclone storm was beyond anyone's imagination in terms of its power; calling it a planetary-scale disaster was not an exaggeration at all. The critical question was, what could humanity do to withstand a level 25 storm?

Upon learning this, PDC convened all experts and dispatched a large number of personnel and instruments to enter the Arctic at the risk of their lives to investigate, ultimately all data confirmed the pressure ring theory.

They also brought back news that within the Arctic Circle, there might be three intense cold cyclone storms taking shape. Although they were still weak, they would continue to grow, like balloons being inflated more and more.

Until they were strong enough, they would find a breaking point and rush out in an apocalyptic manner, sweeping through the entire temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, and even reaching the subtropical regions.

What was even harder to accept was that as long as the volcanic ash pressure ring persisted, such super cyclone storms could erupt every two years, each time bringing apocalyptic devastation sweeping across much of the Northern Hemisphere.

The end of humanity could not be more clear…

The crisis in the 28th year.

The amount of heat received from the Sun on the Earth's surface decreased, and many types of plants died on a large scale, much like the several times in Earth's history when volcanic ash spread globally, leading to a temperature drop.

Not only were the ocean currents cut off and altered, but the atmospheric circulation was also disrupted. The Earth's climate turned chaotic, losing all sense of regularity; meteorological experts were no longer able to understand the global climate of today.

Such a disaster was beyond human control. People could only watch helplessly as the world became increasingly devastated. This disaster was not going to pass any time soon, and humanity was finally tasting the bitter consequences of destroying nature.

Perhaps the only thing they could do was pray.

World leaders may have realized something: under the current circumstances, discussing how to improve the environment or struggling to survive was no longer feasible.

The future held no hope; food and various resources would be the most crucial things for survival. Resource shortages in the future would not only fail to ease but would become even more severe.

In such times, it was impossible to abandon the mainstream defense plans. If anyone announced their withdrawal first, they would immediately be attacked by all other countries, with their resources divided and plundered. This was not something that could be changed at an individual's whim.

When a disaster exceeds a certain limit, humanity's thoughts turn away from joint progress. They not only didn't decelerate the pace of resource exploitation but intensified it even more... all in preparation for an arms race. The Dark Forest slowly descended, and others became an eternal threat.

Since the major powers were relatively well-prepared and had more abilities to maintain their situations stable, small countries were already on the brink of a precipice, and without a desperate effort, they might no longer have a chance.

Humanity could not restrain its own madness by its own means. In the face of a survival crisis, everything else was secondary. Several small countries experienced serious turmoil internally, and some even erupted into intense conflicts with each other.

The Dark Forest is the true picture of the universe and an inevitable part of the development of life. In the competition for survival and the process of species evolution, every individual needs to protect their own interests.

No one could leave their fate in the hands of others. If survival resources were limited, a chain of suspicion would necessarily form, and the Dark Forest would take root in everyone's heart.

From individuals to nations and ethnic groups, and even to all civilizations in the universe, it seemed that all were following the Dark Forest Theory.

Lin Sen, reflecting on humanity's developmental history over the years, couldn't help but lament that human destiny was never shifted by the will of men.

...

As Lin Sen was getting ready to travel to the Moon, he learned that Zhuang Yu had returned to Earth.

PDC, upon learning that the Giant Reflective Mirror project could regulate the Earth's climate, immediately contacted Zhuang Yu to return to Earth to participate in the construction of the Giant Reflective Mirror.

PDC was not unaware of Zhuang Yu's secret production of nanomirror film materials; they just didn't expect it to be in preparation for tackling Earth's climate environment today.

Lin Sen immediately contacted Zhuang Yu, planning to meet in person, and Zhuang Yu came to see Lin Sen right away, along with Shui Wa.

Twenty years later, Zhuang Yu had a very steady appearance and his actions were generous and appropriate, but he still couldn't help being cautious around Lin Sen, out of respect and admiration for him.

Zhuang Yu said excitedly, "Mr. Lin Sen, seeing you again, I still can't suppress my excitement.

"Without you, no one would have seen the value in my nanomirror film materials. It was you who made my achievements possible.

"All of humanity also needs to thank you. You have brought us hope, and it's truly hard to imagine that you could have foreseen the difficulties humanity faces today, twenty years ago, and made such thorough preparations for it.

"Even I, who produced these materials, didn't know they were being prepared for today."

Lin Sen: "I'm also very happy to see you guys again.

"I never expected humanity to face a disaster of this scale. Now when I look at the weather experts' analysis, I feel utterly astonished too.

"What I had envisioned was the Great Ravine being just the culmination of humanity's own contradictions, with environmental issues leading to abrupt climate change, various disasters and famines, making governments struggle to respond.

"I never imagined it would become this serious. I still underestimated the Great Ravine."

To tell the truth, Lin Sen was also quite surprised to learn about the changes over these years. Even in an era with Lin Sen, who had prepared 20 years in advance, it now seemed far from sufficient.

On the original timeline, just how did humanity manage to hold on, with billions dying? The tragic scenes are simply unimaginable.

Thinking back on the original work, many aspects were actually hinted at; it's just that I hadn't paid attention. In the original work, the human population dropped to a low of 1.5 billion. With today's technology, it's inconceivable that such a disaster could reduce the population by 80%.

An 80% reduction in population must be due to a sudden catastrophe. If it were tsunamis today and earthquakes tomorrow... with such disasters continuing, society should not completely collapse.

That tens of millions of people are fleeing famine indicates that ordinary people have become valueless. This is the result of economic transformation; they have become refugees, and the government is no longer able to provide even the most basic living conditions for these people.

The original work only mentioned hunger, desertification, and severe cold. These at most could cause major societal issues, and even losing a tenth of the population due to conflicts is possible.

In human history, when living conditions were difficult, there was never such a massive loss of life. Never underestimate the human will to survive and adapt. Without food, chaff, bark, and grassroots can be eaten; without chaff, bark, and grassroots, even earthworms, bedbugs, and clay can be consumed.

In the face of hunger, humans wouldn't consider themselves human; a leather belt or a bone could be boiled in water to save a life. If health isn't a concern, many industrial products nowadays are edible—the priority is to survive first, then discuss other matters.

Harsh cold can't kill many people either. Not to mention modern humans, but even humans 100 years ago, would not be easily killed by severe cold. Again, do not underestimate human adaptability.

Only a sudden, apocalyptic natural disaster could take the lives of most people in an instant and cause the kind of Great Ravine depicted in the original text.

Zhuang Yu: "This is something nobody expected. When you mentioned the Great Ravine back then, we only thought of ordinary people becoming valueless, living conditions becoming extremely difficult, and social order being chaotic.

"Many people would ultimately die, and the worst scenario I could imagine was a scale of millions or even tens of millions—at most, I never thought beyond that."

Lin Sen: "Speaking of this disaster, there are some things I can't understand, like that compression ring theory; it feels too incredible.

"If it weren't for Trisolaran Sophons being unable to affect macroscale objects, I would suspect it's a Trisolaran scheme.

"Has there ever been a similar situation in history?"

Zhuang Yu: "Perhaps not. There is evidence to suggest that compression rings might indeed have occurred on Earth in the past, on an even larger scale, affecting the Earth for over a billion years…"

PS: As a science fiction author, what I enjoy most is seeing whether there is theoretical support for the development of the story or the author's views. The pursuit of theory is a mark of respect for science fiction.

Of course, there's no need to fixate on the correctness of theories—like Sophons' faster-than-light communication, or the compression ring... it's more about the needs of the plot.

This is also a charm of science fiction. Science fiction is indeed fantasy, but it should be a fantasy based on reality, based on current scientific theories, to show readers a different world.