Citizens of the United States were finally learning how reliant on foreign investment they had really become, and that the latest problems weren’t likely to end soon… Since the 1980’s, a significant flow of foreign funds had kept the stock markets buoyant and had covered the debts from ongoing federal budget deficits. Over that time, foreign investment had reached potentially disastrous and unsustainable heights. The previous year’s sudden withdrawal of foreign funds, combined with the ballooning deficit and negative trade balance, caused a complete economic collapse. Unemployment in many parts of the U.S. escalates, quickly surpassing the 15% mark and in some states reaching over 20%. Many states and most of the major cities declare bankruptcy. The speed of the economic catastrophe shocks the world --- the last Super Power has lost its teeth!

Winter came late to the Northern Hemisphere. It was mild and ended unseasonably early, to be replaced by another hot summer. The Arctic and Greenland icecaps shrank noticeably, pouring fresh water into the North Atlantic. Unnoticed by a distracted world, the great Atlantic Conveyor current, heat engine of the Northern Hemisphere, began to stutter, not quite to a halt, but to a weakened shadow of its former self. Without the massive influx of tropical heat, temperature extremes became even more unpredictable, and in many parts of the world global warming turned suddenly into a mini ice age. By October the snows were blowing all across Europe and North America, adding to energy woes.