"Kim Stanley Robinson - Forty Signs of Rain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robinson Kim Stanley)

right end of the think tank and pundit pool, he wanted to add, everyone but hack pseudoscientists who
would say anything for money, like Dr. Strengloft hereтАФbut he bit his tongue and tried to shift track.
тАЬThink of the world as a balloon, Mr. President. And the atmosphere as the skin of the balloon. Now, if
you wanted the thickness of the skin of a balloon to correctly represent the thickness of our atmosphere
in relation to Earth, the balloon would have to be about as big as a basketball.тАЭ

This barely made sense even to Charlie, although it was a good analogy if you could enunciate it clearly.
тАЬWhat I mean is that the atmosphere is really, really thin, sir. ItтАЩs well within our power to alter it greatly.тАЭ

тАЬNo one contests that, Charles. But look, didnтАЩt you say the amount of CO2in the atmosphere was six
hundred parts per million? So if that CO2were to be the skin of your balloon, and the rest of the
atmosphere was the air inside it, then that balloon would have to be a lot bigger than a basketball, right?
About the size of the moon or something?тАЭ

Strengloft snorted happily at this thought, and went to a computer console on a desk in the corner, no
doubt to compute the exact size of the balloon in the PresidentтАЩs analogy. Charlie suddenly understood
that Strengloft would never have thought of this argument, and realized furtherтАФinstantly thereby
understanding several people in his past who had mystified him at the timeтАФthat sometimes people
known for intelligence were actually quite dim, while people who seemed simple could be very sharp.

тАЬGranted, sir, very good,тАЭ Charlie conceded. тАЬBut think of that CO2skin as being a kind of glass that
lets in light but traps all the heat inside. ItтАЩs that kind of barrier. So the thickness isnтАЩt as important as the
glassiness.тАЭ

тАЬThen maybe more of it wonтАЩt make all that much of a difference,тАЭ the President said kindly. тАЬLook,
Charles. Fanciful comparisons are all very well, but the truth is we have to slow the growth of these
emissions before we can try to stop them, much less reverse them.тАЭ

This was exactly what the President had said at a recent press conference, and over at the computer
Strengloft beamed and nodded to hear it, perhaps because he had authored the line. The absurdity of
taking pride in writing stupid lines for a quick president suddenly struck Charlie as horribly funny. He was
glad Anna wasnтАЩt there beside him, because in moments like these they could with the slightest shared
glance set each other off. Even the thought of her in such a situation almost made him laugh.

So now he banished his wife and her glorious hilarity from his mind, not without a final bizarre tactile
image of the back of his neck as one of her breasts, being suckled more and more hungrily by Joe. Very
soon it would be time for a bottle.

Charlie persevered nevertheless. тАЬSir, itтАЩs getting kind of urgent now. And thereтАЩs no downside to taking
the lead on this issue. The economic advantages of being in the forefront of climate rectification and
bioinfrastructure mitigation arehuge. ItтАЩs a growth industry with uncharted potential. ItтАЩs the future no
matter which way you look at it.тАЭ

Joe clamped down hard on his neck. Charlie shivered. Hungry, no doubt about it. Would be ravenous
on waking. Only a bottle of milk or formula would keep him from going ballistic at that point. He could
not be roused now without disaster striking. But he was beginning to inflict serious pain. Charlie lost his
train of thought. He twitched. A little snort of agony combined with a giggle. He choked it back,
disguised it as a smothered cough.

тАЬWhatтАЩs the matter, Charles, is he waking up on you?тАЭ