Results are nothing; the energies which produce them and which again spring from them are everything.
(Wilhelm von Humboldt)
Because of the necessity to fix the sphere above the Barents Sea, it – or rather the cradle – had been propelled. In absence of human control, the process had been bound to deteriorate over time. However, with only twenty–eight hours delay between planned and actual initiation, the divergence had been minimal still. The Weizsäcker Sun had thus been kindled in the correct position, practically. It killed the repair crew, shone for 5.9224 minutes and had an afterglow phase of 42.8413 minutes.
Below zero, the surface temperature of the Barents Sea rose to 83.4 degrees Celsius, measured 15 hours after the event. It was later calculated that about 236,500 cubic kilometres of water must have vaporised immediately after the event, before tempering had set in. The forests in Scandinavia and northern Russia burnt for almost a week. Storm tides ravaged the northern coastlines, but did not advance to the more populated zones of Norway and Sweden. Muurmanni in Finland and Arkhangelsk in Russia were the urban areas most afflicted, but as both locations were protected by their geographic position, they took damage yet outlasted the orage.
In all, the Weizsäcker Sun had done what it was expected to accomplish. – Would it suffice to stop the glaciers? It was October 1954. The eruption had taken place on the 6th. On the 23rd, Lake Constance started freezing – and the same process was reported from the eastern fringe of the Baltic two days later. – What about the glaciers in Scandinavia and on Novaya Zemlya? There was no snow, hence, no glaciers were forming. But it was cold. Should it start to snow, ice would be forming...
And on Greenland, announced the KWI Met on October 28th, snow was falling like fury and the glaciers were growing. Had the space effort been a lot of fuss about nothing? – One didn't know yet, but certain signs were pointing in that direction... However, how long would it take for a change to take effect? One didn't know either. A certain disenchantment became palpable. If not for the tempering influence of AFV, another series of riots might have rocked Germany.
Faces in the government quarters from The Hague to Moscow went haggard again. In Achinsk, though, preparations for launching solar mirrors were geared up with highest priority. Unfortunately, those up already had been scattered beyond hope...