The same old story, folks.
The Arctic Circle is melting, and nations seek to use the newfound Northwest Passage for trading purposes. Storms are worsening ,sea levels are rising, the weather's changing...
Except the culprit isn't the modern world, but the culmination of several centuries of Chinese *industrialization [1].
(Yes, Charles Stross's new book inspired this).
Thoughts?
[1] Coal mines like in OTL Song, steamships on the grand canal, and so forth. Possibly Europe copied them .
If you don't believe that global warming is due to industrialization... go start a thread elsewhere. Or pretend that the emission of enormous amounts of carbon dioxide are merely coincedental with the warming of the planet in the ATL.