climate-change-impact

In this chapter, Judith Niles discusses with Jan de Vries a significant offer from Salter Wherry to quadruple the Institute's budget and grant autonomy in exchange for relocating key staff to Salter Station in orbit to solve problems affecting arcology construction projects. The chapter also includes an excerpt from Salter Wherry's address to the United Nations, where he explains his motivations for establishing Salter Station to exploit asteroid minerals due to Earth's resource shortages and governmental inaction. The dialogue reveals tensions about resource scarcity, institutional decline, and the potential risks and benefits of aligning with a powerful and enigmatic industrialist.

The chapter opens with a poetic description of the origin of life on Earth, emphasizing the role of chemical selection in the rapid emergence of self-replicating molecules. It then shifts to a futuristic setting where a Special Interest Group debates advanced technologies like nano-constructors and Von Neumann machines for resource generation. Finally, the narrative follows Teresa as she navigates a flooded, transformed Houston, encountering sun-worshipping 'Ra Boys' who advocate solar energy and express fatalistic views about climate change and the city's future.