MT Clarification needed on Terra (Sol&Aslan)

[Maladominus]

Hi all,

I was perusing my wonderfully-near-mint copy of Solomani & Aslan yesterday (this is one of my prized possessions in my Traveller library, by the way so I try to read it sparsely and try not to overuse it)..... and I realized something a bit "odd".

In the included map of Terra dated around the Year 1120 (shortly a few years into the Rebellion Era, when the Confederation had just invaded the Shattered Imperium and retaken Terra).... the map shows that there are NO ice caps terrain whatsoever?!! The terrain key shows deserts, mountains, jungles, and forests, etc. It also shows a key for white-colored frozen terrain, but Terra's topographical does not seem to have any of those in the polar regions.

OK... can someone confirm to me: Is it the assumption that the Polar Ice Caps have long melted on Terra by the (Traveller) timeframe? Or maybe this is just a "coloring book mistake" by the DGP folks.

I did read in the notes of Solomani & Aslan, that the "frozen tundra" of Siberia are long gone, and in its place is a vast expanse of a "garden region". Well fine. I'll give the Second Imperium Terrans a B+ for terraforming. But the missing polar ice caps....

I am wondering. If the MegaTraveller assumption is that the ice caps have already melted off on Earth, what does this imply? That the cyclic "come-and-go" nature of the ice ages is the main cause? Or are Terrans/Solomani stupidly responsible for *permanently* eradicating the ice caps from Earth's polar regions? And it shall never come back? S&A does not really elaborate on this, so it gives me more questions than answers.

Thanks for any eludication.

 

[Maladominus]

Hi all,

I was perusing my wonderfully-near-mint copy of Solomani & Aslan yesterday (this is one of my prized possessions in my Traveller library, by the way so I try to read it sparsely and try not to overuse it)..... and I realized something a bit "odd".

In the included map of Terra dated around the Year 1120 (shortly a few years into the Rebellion Era, when the Confederation had just invaded the Shattered Imperium and retaken Terra).... the map shows that there are NO ice caps terrain whatsoever?!! The terrain key shows deserts, mountains, jungles, and forests, etc. It also shows a key for white-colored frozen terrain, but Terra's topographical does not seem to have any of those in the polar regions.

OK... can someone confirm to me: Is it the assumption that the Polar Ice Caps have long melted on Terra by the (Traveller) timeframe? Or maybe this is just a "coloring book mistake" by the DGP folks.

I did read in the notes of Solomani & Aslan, that the "frozen tundra" of Siberia are long gone, and in its place is a vast expanse of a "garden region". Well fine. I'll give the Second Imperium Terrans a B+ for terraforming. But the missing polar ice caps....

I am wondering. If the MegaTraveller assumption is that the ice caps have already melted off on Earth, what does this imply? That the cyclic "come-and-go" nature of the ice ages is the main cause? Or are Terrans/Solomani stupidly responsible for *permanently* eradicating the ice caps from Earth's polar regions? And it shall never come back? S&A does not really elaborate on this, so it gives me more questions than answers.

Thanks for any eludication.

 

[Maladominus]

Hi all,

I was perusing my wonderfully-near-mint copy of Solomani & Aslan yesterday (this is one of my prized possessions in my Traveller library, by the way so I try to read it sparsely and try not to overuse it)..... and I realized something a bit "odd".

In the included map of Terra dated around the Year 1120 (shortly a few years into the Rebellion Era, when the Confederation had just invaded the Shattered Imperium and retaken Terra).... the map shows that there are NO ice caps terrain whatsoever?!! The terrain key shows deserts, mountains, jungles, and forests, etc. It also shows a key for white-colored frozen terrain, but Terra's topographical does not seem to have any of those in the polar regions.

OK... can someone confirm to me: Is it the assumption that the Polar Ice Caps have long melted on Terra by the (Traveller) timeframe? Or maybe this is just a "coloring book mistake" by the DGP folks.

I did read in the notes of Solomani & Aslan, that the "frozen tundra" of Siberia are long gone, and in its place is a vast expanse of a "garden region". Well fine. I'll give the Second Imperium Terrans a B+ for terraforming. But the missing polar ice caps....

I am wondering. If the MegaTraveller assumption is that the ice caps have already melted off on Earth, what does this imply? That the cyclic "come-and-go" nature of the ice ages is the main cause? Or are Terrans/Solomani stupidly responsible for *permanently* eradicating the ice caps from Earth's polar regions? And it shall never come back? S&A does not really elaborate on this, so it gives me more questions than answers.

Thanks for any eludication.

 

[DonM]

The map in TD 13 doesn't show any ice caps either. However, I believe this is a reflection of the map from Invasion: Earth, but I don't own that item... Sorry.

TD #13 does note that "57th-century Terra is flooded by the rise of the oceans, but a few areas with particular historical value have been preserved by sea walls." Then later, "the area is no longer barren desert, but supports a variety of plant life, thanks to the extensive terraforming that has changed so much of the face of the planet."

Hope that helps.

 

[DonM]

The map in TD 13 doesn't show any ice caps either. However, I believe this is a reflection of the map from Invasion: Earth, but I don't own that item... Sorry.

TD #13 does note that "57th-century Terra is flooded by the rise of the oceans, but a few areas with particular historical value have been preserved by sea walls." Then later, "the area is no longer barren desert, but supports a variety of plant life, thanks to the extensive terraforming that has changed so much of the face of the planet."

Hope that helps.

 

[DonM]

The map in TD 13 doesn't show any ice caps either. However, I believe this is a reflection of the map from Invasion: Earth, but I don't own that item... Sorry.

TD #13 does note that "57th-century Terra is flooded by the rise of the oceans, but a few areas with particular historical value have been preserved by sea walls." Then later, "the area is no longer barren desert, but supports a variety of plant life, thanks to the extensive terraforming that has changed so much of the face of the planet."

Hope that helps.

 

[kaladorn]

Originally posted by DonM:
The map in TD 13 doesn't show any ice caps either. However, I believe this is a reflection of the map from Invasion: Earth, but I don't own that item... Sorry.

TD #13 does note that "57th-century Terra is flooded by the rise of the oceans, but a few areas with particular historical value have been preserved by sea walls." Then later, "the area is no longer barren desert, but supports a variety of plant life, thanks to the extensive terraforming that has changed so much of the face of the planet."

Hope that helps.

I do own Invasion:Earth, I just can't find that one blasted box now that the question has come up! I will keep looking.

As for TD-13, the implication seems to be in favour of global warming having caused rising sea levels (check out UN predictions for the next 20 to 50 years...) and this may have changed the geography of earth a bit. This explains the sea-walls. So, yes, I'd guess that the ice caps are gone.

 

[kaladorn]

Originally posted by DonM:
The map in TD 13 doesn't show any ice caps either. However, I believe this is a reflection of the map from Invasion: Earth, but I don't own that item... Sorry.

TD #13 does note that "57th-century Terra is flooded by the rise of the oceans, but a few areas with particular historical value have been preserved by sea walls." Then later, "the area is no longer barren desert, but supports a variety of plant life, thanks to the extensive terraforming that has changed so much of the face of the planet."

Hope that helps.

I do own Invasion:Earth, I just can't find that one blasted box now that the question has come up! I will keep looking.

As for TD-13, the implication seems to be in favour of global warming having caused rising sea levels (check out UN predictions for the next 20 to 50 years...) and this may have changed the geography of earth a bit. This explains the sea-walls. So, yes, I'd guess that the ice caps are gone.

 

[kaladorn]

Originally posted by DonM:
The map in TD 13 doesn't show any ice caps either. However, I believe this is a reflection of the map from Invasion: Earth, but I don't own that item... Sorry.

TD #13 does note that "57th-century Terra is flooded by the rise of the oceans, but a few areas with particular historical value have been preserved by sea walls." Then later, "the area is no longer barren desert, but supports a variety of plant life, thanks to the extensive terraforming that has changed so much of the face of the planet."

Hope that helps.

I do own Invasion:Earth, I just can't find that one blasted box now that the question has come up! I will keep looking.

As for TD-13, the implication seems to be in favour of global warming having caused rising sea levels (check out UN predictions for the next 20 to 50 years...) and this may have changed the geography of earth a bit. This explains the sea-walls. So, yes, I'd guess that the ice caps are gone.