Icarus: A Climate TL

Redo the evacuation of LA?


  • Total voters
    118
London Centre for Global Studies - Map of the United States [FUTURE]
May or may not be canon. Regardless, Merry Christmas!
dfl4nem-f7829ccf-d7bc-427c-9d07-701315c8a3dc.png

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!


The chickens have come home to roost.

What began as a series of car bombs in the country’s capital has turned into an unprecedented environmental and political conflict that spans a continent.

To the north, the Chicago Government has successfully vanquished the last of the major federal pretenders and can fully turn its attention towards the business of pacifying the south. However, its cities, once the financial and industrial hearts of the nation and the world, now sit in squalor, devastated by years of war, neglect, deindustrialization, and environmental degradation. While in the halcyon days of yore New York and Boston might have been surrounded by neatly manicured suburbs, now there is only the stench of overcrowded refugee encampments.

But don’t get the wrong idea. Refugees are Chicago’s greatest export. Even the threat of unleashing millions of despondent refugees onto the Canadian border was enough to get Ottawa to quickly agree to a generous trade and water-sharing agreement.

To the west, the Pacific Northwest remains the most similar to the prosperity of pre-war America. The lights turn on and the garbage is still collected weekly across Oregon and Washington. Food isn’t a concern either - California exports most of its food to the Olympia government.

That’s all the Golden State is useful for nowadays. Nearly all the technological capital in Silicon Valley has fled to Seattle, and as such, the Pacific Northwest continues to lead the world in innovation and advancement. The latest government initiative involves turning the entire country into an “algocracy,” where everything from rations, jobs, and criminal verdicts are decided by computer algorithms and artificial intelligence.

The south, by contrast, is a complete mess, riddled with wannabe militias, rogue military units, and roving bands of racial supremacists. As troops from the north arrive to press Chicago’s boot onto the already fractured region, the only glimmer of hope for the south lies in the Free States of America - an equal society surrounded by a sea of hate.
 
Last edited:
I know this is your timeline and you can do what you want, but wouldn't the West Coast suffer greatly as well? Like even in our timeline people worry about water levels and rising drought so I do question how well the area is doing especially in terms of food and especially California.

Also I know only the south is suffering from major problems but wouldn't the North also suffer from major strife? I mean this does not show what actually occurred to get thing into such a state but I would think there would be a greater divide in the north where a significant number of people already live not including all of the refugees. Like I do not see Canada being able to support the Chicago government even if they wanted to considering how they would also be dealing with their own major economic troubles that would ruin a large part of the nations economy, infrastructure, and agriculture.
 
May or may not be canon. Regardless, Merry Christmas!
map_of_the_american_troubles_by_smallstealth_dfl4nem-fullview.png

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!


The chickens have come home to roost.

What began as a series of car bombs in the country’s capital has turned into an unprecedented environmental and political conflict that spans a continent.

To the north, the Chicago Government has successfully vanquished the last of the major federal pretenders and can fully turn its attention towards the business of pacifying the south. However, its cities, once the financial and industrial hearts of the nation and the world, now sit in squalor, devastated by years of war, neglect, deindustrialization, and environmental degradation. While in the halcyon days of yore New York and Boston might have been surrounded by neatly manicured suburbs, now there is only the stench of overcrowded refugee encampments.

But don’t get the wrong idea. Refugees are Chicago’s greatest export. Even the threat of unleashing millions of despondent refugees onto the Canadian border was enough to get Ottawa to quickly agree to a generous trade and water-sharing agreement.

To the west, the Pacific Northwest remains the most similar to the prosperity of pre-war America. The lights turn on and the garbage is still collected weekly across Oregon and Washington. Food isn’t a concern either - California exports most of its food to the Olympia government.

That’s all the Golden State is useful for nowadays. Nearly all the technological capital in Silicon Valley has fled to Seattle, and as such, the Pacific Northwest continues to lead the world in innovation and advancement. The latest government initiative involves turning the entire country into an “algocracy,” where everything from rations, jobs, and criminal verdicts are decided by computer algorithms and artificial intelligence.

The south, by contrast, is a complete mess, riddled with wannabe militias, rogue military units, and roving bands of racial supremacists. As troops from the north arrive to press Chicago’s boot onto the already fractured region, the only glimmer of hope for the south lies in the Free States of America - an equal society surrounded by a sea of hate.
My goodness, this update was certainly a surprise! Regardless, utterly interesting and terrifying in equal parts. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!
 
I know this is your timeline and you can do what you want, but wouldn't the West Coast suffer greatly as well? Like even in our timeline people worry about water levels and rising drought so I do question how well the area is doing especially in terms of food and especially California.

Also I know only the south is suffering from major problems but wouldn't the North also suffer from major strife? I mean this does not show what actually occurred to get thing into such a state but I would think there would be a greater divide in the north where a significant number of people already live not including all of the refugees. Like I do not see Canada being able to support the Chicago government even if they wanted to considering how they would also be dealing with their own major economic troubles that would ruin a large part of the nations economy, infrastructure, and agriculture.
The West Coast is suffering; California is largely impoverished and drained of human and financial capital. Its drought issues are only somewhat mollified by subsidized water imports from up north and from aggressively draining Lake Mead and Lake Powell. And the north does have strife, there's rioting and looting etc., but that isn't shown in the map. The government compensates by increasing military presence in cities.

how far in the future is this?

Left to interpretation but roughly around the 2030s-2040s.

Also I just realized the image quality was utter garbarge, so I've updated it. It should be much clearer now.
 
The West Coast is suffering; California is largely impoverished and drained of human and financial capital. Its drought issues are only somewhat mollified by subsidized water imports from up north and from aggressively draining Lake Mead and Lake Powell. And the north does have strife, there's rioting and looting etc., but that isn't shown in the map. The government compensates by increasing military presence in cities.
Okay, although I still believe that California is only going to get worse as the water runs out, or the infrastructure is destroyed or not repaired.

Also I do believe that the north is going to suffer their own collapse in the future if for no other reason than economic and political ones. Like there is only so much militarization a state can support while also dealing with internal problems. Plus this assumes someone in the military decides to go full Ceaser and just take over.
 
Okay, although I still believe that California is only going to get worse as the water runs out, or the infrastructure is destroyed or not repaired.

Also I do believe that the north is going to suffer their own collapse in the future if for no other reason than economic and political ones. Like there is only so much militarization a state can support while also dealing with internal problems. Plus this assumes someone in the military decides to go full Ceaser and just take over.
The North may actually have become a feudal* regime to placate its military.

*no, not necessarily through official entitlement of land; something as the right to administrate and tax-farm specific territories as constables can suffice
 
That would probably just lead to revolution considering how such a thing worked for the Chinese. Or full balkanization depending on how bad the military division becomes.
 
That would probably just lead to revolution considering how such a thing worked for the Chinese. Or full balkanization depending on how bad the military division becomes.
Well - at this point - they're not really ruling through the constitution and popular mandate anymore.
 
May or may not be canon. Regardless, Merry Christmas!
dfl4nem-f7829ccf-d7bc-427c-9d07-701315c8a3dc.png

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!


The chickens have come home to roost.

What began as a series of car bombs in the country’s capital has turned into an unprecedented environmental and political conflict that spans a continent.

To the north, the Chicago Government has successfully vanquished the last of the major federal pretenders and can fully turn its attention towards the business of pacifying the south. However, its cities, once the financial and industrial hearts of the nation and the world, now sit in squalor, devastated by years of war, neglect, deindustrialization, and environmental degradation. While in the halcyon days of yore New York and Boston might have been surrounded by neatly manicured suburbs, now there is only the stench of overcrowded refugee encampments.

But don’t get the wrong idea. Refugees are Chicago’s greatest export. Even the threat of unleashing millions of despondent refugees onto the Canadian border was enough to get Ottawa to quickly agree to a generous trade and water-sharing agreement.

To the west, the Pacific Northwest remains the most similar to the prosperity of pre-war America. The lights turn on and the garbage is still collected weekly across Oregon and Washington. Food isn’t a concern either - California exports most of its food to the Olympia government.

That’s all the Golden State is useful for nowadays. Nearly all the technological capital in Silicon Valley has fled to Seattle, and as such, the Pacific Northwest continues to lead the world in innovation and advancement. The latest government initiative involves turning the entire country into an “algocracy,” where everything from rations, jobs, and criminal verdicts are decided by computer algorithms and artificial intelligence.

The south, by contrast, is a complete mess, riddled with wannabe militias, rogue military units, and roving bands of racial supremacists. As troops from the north arrive to press Chicago’s boot onto the already fractured region, the only glimmer of hope for the south lies in the Free States of America - an equal society surrounded by a sea of hate.
Who controls those empty white spaces? Like in the Southwest does Mexico administer them or are there just many many minor and non-territorial groups as mentioned on the map? Or is it just that no one lives in those places?
 
I think that’s probably most likely, but cities like Phoenix are still on the map. Then again, so are the old state borders and roads, so this could just be for comparison to the past.
 
Real nice map! I admit, I initially was immediately suspicious of the Free States of America until the description explained how they are (I thought they leaned into the free to oppress kind of "Free")--but really I should've realized that there was likely more nuance to them by their geographic position in the south. Are the Delta Defense Corps potential allies?

Okay, although I still believe that California is only going to get worse as the water runs out, or the infrastructure is destroyed or not repaired.

Also I do believe that the north is going to suffer their own collapse in the future if for no other reason than economic and political ones. Like there is only so much militarization a state can support while also dealing with internal problems. Plus this assumes someone in the military decides to go full Ceaser and just take over.
That's fair, but it's probably worth remembering that this takes place at a specific moment that's not necessarily indicative of how things will end. I wouldn't be surprised if the south east is currently hitting it's nadir and will rally under the FSA while the Chicago administration will eventually run into problems/revolution as it overextends.
 
Honestly having the US balkanize might do some good in the same way the fall of Rome lead to growing innovation and so on across Europe.

Plus considering the amount of damage the US would experience it would not surprise me if they balkanize.
 
I take it the EU is amongst the areas of the world which collapse last from how the map is published by the London Center for International Studies?
Yep, in that timeline it’s basically only Western Europe and East Asia left. Australia and Argentina are barely holding on.
Who controls those empty white spaces? Like in the Southwest does Mexico administer them or are there just many many minor and non-territorial groups as mentioned on the map? Or is it just that no one lives in those places?
Climate change has rendered those areas effectively uninhabitable. The only survivors are small, isolated communities or bandits and scavengers ransacking what’s left.
Are the Delta Defense Corps potential allies?
They’re on friendly terms, but the DDC is rightfully wary of other factions.
 
Logger (stylized as logger) is an American microblogging and social networking website that launched on June 13, 2010. Since March 2014, it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. The site has 250 million monthly active users as of August 2021, mostly concentrated within North America, Europe, Japan, and Argentina. It is the 5th-most visited site in the United States, and is often credited as one of the Big Three technology startups that started the Connectivity Revolution.

First advertised as a "neoforum," the site's content is split between groups (moderated communities broadly similar to a subforum) and trees (organically created groupings of messages and posts discussing the same topic). Users can also opt to post to their timeline, which effectively acts as a global community. Submissions and posts can either be liked or boosted to be more prominent.
An interesting part of this timeline is just how different the internet would be without companies like Amazon and Yahoo dominating for so long, and how sites like Logger develop from butterflies. What companies are the biggest in the tech field ITTL? Is Apple still so …Apple, or has another company taken its place? Has Microsoft’s purchase of Logger made it more relevant than in OTL?
 
Last edited:
I saw the Troubles map on Reddit... and Jesus it doesn't look good for the United States.

They've functionally broken apart into dozens of states in the southwest alone!
 
Top